Without Their Goalie, the Maple Leafs Were Just So Close to Advancing
Just so close yet so far is what the Toronto Maple Leafs are probably saying to themselves after being eliminated from the NHL Playoffs in Game Seven against the Boston Bruins. Going into Game Seven to make it to the next round of the playoffs is already anxiety-inducing enough, but when your starting goaltender, Joseph Woll, was out with an injury, well, let's just say everyone likes a good underdog story.
Who are the main characters of this underdog story? Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll. Samsonov was the backup goaltender for Woll, so when your starting goaltender is out, Samsonvos had big shoes to fill. You see, at the age of 25, Woll has already established a big career for himself. He was the third-round pick of the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, played in the United States for the 2017-2018 IIHF World Junior Championship winning a gold and bronze medal, and he was 16-4-1 with a 2.37 goals against average and a high save percentage of .927 for Toronto in the AHL from 2022-2023. Woll was named North Division All-Star Classic and represented the Marlies in the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic. Competing in the NHL is nothing new for him so not having Woll in the Game Seven was a huge deal.
If you compare the stats to the 2023-2024 NHL season between Samsonov and Woll, there is a bit of a difference. Samsonov is a free agent with a goal save percentage of .890 which is considered low in the NHL. In the beginning, Samsonov was the starting goaltender, but he lost three of the first four games which made the Leafs turn to Woll who allowed about one goal in each of the past two games that Toronto has tied. Considering the Leafs lost in overtime by one to the Bruins, that is saying something. The Bruins’ goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, has a goal-save percentage of .916 which is increasingly higher than Samsonov’s and a little bit higher than Woll’s. You want a goalie who can compete with one of the better goaltenders in the playoff games. Unfortunately, Samsonov couldn’t execute to help win, but if the Leafs had Woll, they probably would have won in overtime and not have the game end at 1-2. They were so close, yet so far from winning with the odds against them.
