It could be argued that the very last player the Toronto Maple Leafs could afford to go down to injury right now was Joseph Woll. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the scenario they’re facing, as the team’s starting goaltender left Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s being called a lower-body injury that, of course, the Leafs won’t comment on.
The injury seemed to occur on this save in the second period:
Woll began lifting and bending his left leg, trying to shake something out, after the play. Whether it’s a knee, hip, quad, or whatever it is, he now joins his tandem partner Anthony Stolarz in the infirmary.
Woll is having more testing done on Friday, but given the Leafs’ team policy of keeping all injuries a mystery from the media and fans, we aren’t likely to learn too much about it.
Woll joins Stolarz as injury victim for Leafs
Stolarz, meanwhile, has been out for over three weeks with an upper-body injury, and there is no timeline for his return. That leaves both starting goalies on the shelf.
The timing for Woll’s injury couldn’t be worse, as he has been a rock between the pipes for Toronto, the backbone of their recent mini-resurgence. He stopped 22 of 23 shots through two periods Thursday night. The team’s 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes was its third straight win.
Fortunately, backup Dennis Hildeby came in and turned aside all nine shots he faced in the third period. It’s the fourth relief appearance he’s had to make this season, and the 6-foot-7 ‘Beast’ has performed above expectations, posting a .919 save percentage and 2.86 goals against average.
Hildeby continues to show up BIG in relief for Leafs
“He has done a great job for us,” said head coach Craig Berube. “I talked about it back in camp. He had a really good camp and came in prepared. It showed tonight, the preparation. It is not easy to come in there in that situation… I really liked the way Beast came in and handled it.”
With the club’s top two goalies out of commission for… who knows how long?… Hildeby will have to continue to ‘handle it’ for a little while.
Woll has a .927 Sv% this season with a 2.30 GAA in eight starts. The Leafs have climbed to within two points of third place in the Atlantic Division with their recent run. They’ll now rely on Hildeby to keep them moving in the right direction.
