After losing to the Boston Bruins in overtime on Dec. 2, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked to get back in the win column on Dec. 7 against the Ottawa Senators. Ultimately, they succeeded in their goal, defeating the Senators in a close matchup. Although the Maple Leafs secured two points in this contest, one major negative moment overshadowed it. Let’s discuss this and other takeaways from the game now.
Woll Leaves Game With Injury, Will Miss Time
Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll was excellent during this contest. The 25-year-old saved 29 out of 31 shots and was a big reason why the Maple Leafs had a lead against a high-energy Senators team. As the game went on, he notably made some big saves on high-danger chances. He robbed Vladimir Tarasenko and stopped breakaways on both Brady Tkachuk and Mathieu Joseph. He was really feeling it against the Senators, but then, unfortunately, the rookie suffered a lower-body injury in the third period.
Woll was in clear pain after making a save on Senators forward Rourke Chartier. From there, T.J. Brodie and Ryan Reaves helped Woll off the ice, as the goaltender could not skate alone. Following the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed to reporters that Woll would “miss some time.”
This is awful news. Woll has been playing excellently as of late, and now his hot stretch of play will need to be put on pause because of this injury. Here’s to hoping that the Missouri native has a speedy recovery and that this ends up being a short-term injury.
Jones Steps In & Gets Job Done
With Woll getting injured and Ilya Samsonov out with an illness, Martin Jones was forced to make his Maple Leafs debut with a little less than half of the third period left. At the time he entered the contest, the score was 3-2, so the veteran netminder was put into a high-pressure situation. However, in the end, he did his job and looked quite comfortable in the process.
William Nylander gave Jones a bit of insurance at the 13:03 mark, giving the Maple Leafs a 4-2 lead. However, even with that being so, Jones’ relief performance should not be ignored. He made some key saves as the third period continued and played a role in Toronto’s win. He made nine saves on 10 shots and helped Toronto successfully get two points because of it. With that, he got a win for his efforts.
With Woll now out, Jones will be sticking with the NHL squad. This is a good chance for the 33-year-old to try to win a job with the Maple Leafs and prove that he is still an NHL-caliber goaltender. Against the Senators, he certainly looked like one, even if the sample size was small.
Maple Leafs’ Outplayed But Offence Cashed In
The Senators had more opportunities than the Maple Leafs during this game. At the end of the night, the Senators had 41 shots, while the Maple Leafs had only 22. This only highlights how outstanding Woll was. However, while the Maple Leafs’ chances were low in this contest, they took advantage of them when they were present.
The Maple Leafs got scoring from different parts of their lineup, as Mitch Marner, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, and Nylander all had goals during this contest. With that, defencemen T.J. Brodie and Jake McCabe had two-assist nights, while Max Domi, Morgan Rielly, Nicholas Robertson, and John Tavares all had helpers of their own.
This is not the first time the Maple Leafs have been outplayed, but they managed to get the win. Their offense knows how to cash in when the opportunities arise, and that was again the case against Ottawa.
With this win, the Maple Leafs now have a 13-6-4 record and have won seven out of their last 10 games. They will look to keep it up against Ryan O’Reilly and the Nashville Predators on Dec. 9 from here.
