A fine appearance in relief and a little offensive outburst from a veteran who hasn’t done it in a while.
Those were a couple of factors in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, and we take a closer look in our takeaways:
NO GOALIE WORRIES
The Leafs will have a better idea on Friday regarding the status of goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who departed the game after the first period because of a lower-body injury.
No matter the extent of the injury, card-carrying members of Leafs Nation shouldn’t be beset with concern. Not when the option is Joseph Woll, who demonstrated again in the final 40 minutes that he’s more than capable of holding the fort.
Remember what Sheldon Keefe, now coaching the New Jersey Devils, said after the Leafs won 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday?
“Best goaltending in the league on the other side,” the former Leafs coach said.
The reference was to Stolarz, who went into Thursday with an NHL-best .928 save percentage. With a record of 8-3-0 and a save percentage of .921 after he made 19 saves against the Ducks, Woll is not far off.
For whatever amount of time Stolarz is out, the Leafs know they’re going to get above-average netminding from Woll. It’s the best tandem, right now, in the NHL, and now it could be on Woll’s shoulders to take on a heavier load.
“You’re a little cold from from sitting there, but it was nice to come in at the start of the period, at least, and not have to go in the middle of the game,” Woll said. “It’s kind of mixed emotions. I’m sad for him. I don’t want him to get hurt. At the same time, I have a job to do, and you have to trigger that on. I hope he’s all right, and hopefully it’s nothing too bad.”
Woll barely was challenged in the third period, when the Leafs shut Anaheim down and allowed just five shots on goal. Still, he had to be sharp on occasion.
“I thought Wollsy did a real good job coming in,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “That’s never easy. We’re fortunate to have two guys that have played extremely well this year.”
MAXING IT OUT
Max Pacioretty turned the clock back, scoring two goals in a game for the first time since January 2023, when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Leafs didn’t have to rely on their big four up front — captain Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander — to supply all of the goals, though Nylander scored once and Tavares had two assists.
As some observers worry about the Leafs’ lack of secondary scoring, Pacioretty provided a fresh break.
On both of his goals, Pacioretty did what Berube has been harping onregarding all of his forwards as the scoring hasn’t been coming in bushels. Pacioretty went to the net, first tapping in a no-look pass from Tavares and later tipping a Conor Timmins shot past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal.
“It’s about being smarter with it, I think,” Pacioretty said. “Often times when you’re not scoring, maybe you’re going there a little bit too early, but it’s timing, and it’s chemistry. I wasn’t exactly in the goalie’s eyes in that first one, but there’s chemistry with Johnny, knowing that he’s going to throw it behind him.
“When you play with top-notch players like that, chemistry just seems to keep growing and growing. That was an example of that.”
The Leafs aren’t expecting Pacioretty to fill the net every night. He has four goals in 16 games, and at 36, his most prolific scoring days in the NHL are behind him.
Still, the contribution is welcomed.
“He’s strong around the net,” Berube said. “He has a good stick, he has a good shot. Plays a heavy game. That line (of Tavares between Pacioretty and Nylander) was really good for us.
“I thought that they controlled the play out there. Every time they’re out there, had plenty of opportunities to score. They played good, hard hockey.”
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Leafs had 64 shot attempts at five-on-five as they won on home ice for the 13th time, the most home wins in the NHL.
That’s significant for a few reasons.
It’s the most Toronto has had in a game since the season opener, when it had 85 shot attempts at five-on-five in a 1-0 loss in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Never mind that it came against Anaheim, one of the poorer outfits in the NHL.
It’s a good sign nonetheless as the Leafs have had consistency issues in production, and it had to make Berube happy that all three of the Leafs’ goals were scored at five-on-five.
“We did a good job,” Berube said. “We scored some goals around the net. Our shot attempts were way up, like we (have) talked about (the importance of). There’s a lot of good stuff that way.”
The Leafs finished with 33 shots on goal. Of those, 31 came during five-on-five, also their most since the season opener, when they had 40.
Now, to keep that going this weekend, on Saturday in Detroit against the Red Wings and on Sunday at home against the Buffalo Sabres. Really, against a couple of weaker Atlantic Division rivals, it should continue.
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