TORONTO — All Joseph Woll did Sunday was become the first Toronto Maple Leafs rookie goaltender to win a playoff game since Felix Potvin accomplished the feat in the 1993 conference finals.
We’re not sure which was more impressive, the kid’s ability to lock down a 2-1 win facing elimination, or his composure in doing so.
“I’ve had a good mindset of what I want to pursue in my life, what’s important to me. And when I have that, when I have my groundwork, it’s easy to see everything that happens in life brings you closer to that. I’m just happy to be where I am,” Woll says.
“My mindset doesn’t change regardless of what the situation is in the game, and that’s the little game within the game I play in my mind.”
Ilya Samsonov skated Friday morning. That’s a first since leaving Sunday’s Game 3 with an upper-body injury.
The net — and all its pressures — belongs to Woll, who until Wednesday had not started a playoff game since March 23, 2019, for the Boston College Eagles.
“Confident but calm in there at all times,” Ryan O’Reilly observes. “It’s so impressive. To come in for that pressure of a game and doing what he did, only gives up one, that’s an amazing thing.”
Adds John Tavares: “You can just see the focus. His preparation, his focus, is elite.”
In attempt to shake the rookie, the Panthers vow to get more shots and more traffic Friday in Game 5.
“He was good,” Aleksander Barkov conceded. “Obviously, we could’ve had more guys at the net to make his job tougher.”
Schenn-sational
Of all the regularly used defencemen still standing in the playoffs, none has been on the ice for fewer goals against (two) than Luke Schenn.
The homecoming king has been worth way more than the third-round pick Kyle Dubas paid for his services.
Partner Morgan Rielly is skating and creating with the most confidence he has shown all season, and Schenn himself has been steady on the breakout, a calmly presence around his own net, and a voice of reason in the room.
He’s one half of Toronto’s only consistent D pair in the postseason.
“Just the ability to take on the minutes and the pace of the playoffs, it’s really been remarkable and just huge for us,” Keefe said.
The Maple Leafs are outscoring their opponents 9-2 at even-strength this postseason with Schenn in the game. Incredible.
This play he made from his knees to spoil Carter Verhaeghe’s slot chance was a potential series-saver:
“He’s been unbelievable. He’s the Human Eraser for a reason. He’s been great for this team and a big voice in the locker room. And he’s done it,” Noel Acciari says. “It’s a good voice to have, and he’s been great for us.”
Granny O’Reilly for the win
O’Reilly’s 103-year-old grandmother, Deirdre, has already paraded with the Cup once — and wants that experience again, trading in her Blues gear for Leafs swag.
“When you see pictures like that, you know how special it is not just for us but for everyone to be part of it. My granny that’s 103, she’s probably my biggest fan,” O’Reilly. “It means so much.”
O’Reilly’s mother, Bonnie, hung a Leafs flag outside the house.
“My mom takes it more serious than I do. If we lose, she can’t talk to anyone for a day or so. I’ll call her after, and she’s more upset than I am after a loss,” O’Reilly said. “Family’s a big part of it.”
Does she offer advice?
“Yeah. Kick some ass.”
Stump Tkachuk
Matthew Tkachuk exploded for five goals in Round 1 versus Boston and was the series MVP.
The winger has yet to find the back of the Maple Leafs’ net in this series, despite notching five assists. Tkachuk’s line, centred by Sam Bennett and flanked by Nick Cousins, hasn’t registered an even-strength goal since their dominant Game 1 performance sparked headlines.
“Some of the adjustments we’ve made after the Game 1 have really helped us playing against that line,” said Keefe, who also tweaked his shutdown pairing after Game 3. “But they’re obviously still very dangerous and we got to stay with it shift to shift.”
O’Reilly’s line has taken on the task of keeping Bennett’s group at bay since Game 1.
Acciari believes the key is to close in on them quicker. Stuff their speed before it can rev up.
“We’ve been a little more detailed defensively as a group,” O’Reilly added. “Guys are protecting the middle more, we’re on our toes defending more, being a little quicker to close. And when you can do that, it will shut down momentum for lines.”
Goals, schmoals
Toronto has scored exactly two goals in each of its past six games, hardly matching its reputation as an offensive behemoth.
Of the seven teams still alive, only the Seattle Kraken has scored less often than the Maple Leafs, who are down to 3.1 goals per game in the postseason.
It is no coincidence that both teams are one loss from elimination.
“We need to stay with it offensively. But as we showed [Sunday], we have to do so with a foundation defensively that just takes care of our team and gives us a chance to win games,” Keefe said. “If we can just continue to be one goal better, we’ll take that.
“We haven’t scored a lot in this series, but we’ve been in positions to win games despite not scoring a lot. We’ve had leads [in three of the four games], and we’ve made mistakes that we didn’t make in the previous series that cost us.”
Auston Matthews has 18 shots on net and has pinged the iron through four games in the series, but the former 60-goal man hasn’t scored yet.
“The real key for any of our players, no matter what they’re going through, is to just focus on their game, shift to shift and the little habits and the things we need them to be doing, defensively,” Keefe defended. “The chances are gonna continue to come.
“You [media] guys tend to perhaps distract him a bit with the questions he gets, but that’s part of being a player of his calibre, and I think he recognizes that.”
Can the Maple Leafs really survive a series on 2-1 or 1-0 wins?
“If that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes,” Keefe said.
Maurice on the mic
Do yourself a favour, if you have three-and-a-half minutes to spare.
Watch Florida head coach Paul Maurice’s Game 4 press conference. It’s one of the more, uh, quirky podium appearances we’ve seen.
There is even a reference to what we believe is this Will Ferrell scene from Old School:
“We lost a game today. That happens in the playoffs. I think to everybody so far. OK. We’re good. We’re OK. And we get to play the next one,” Maurice said. “It wasn’t so fabulous a win that they’re not gonna let us play the next one. OK.
“Go ahead, keep [the questions] coming. Just try to hide your glee. Relax for [expletive’s] sakes.”
Maurice is a hilarious man, and he lets his sense of humour fly.
But he’s not all jokes behind the bench.
“We judge ourselves by how hard we are to play against, by how hard we play. And that’s a very serious matter. So, if it’s not there, it’s not all giggles. But you gotta be able to enjoy it,” Maurice explained.
“He’s coached over 2,000 games in the NHL, so he literally knows every situation, how to handle it. He’s the guy we trust. He’s the guy we believe in and love playing for,” Barkov said.
“He knows what to do and tells us the right things. Sometimes keep it loose. Sometimes we need to wake up. He’s going to do that.”
Knies out
Matthew Knies travelled with the Leafs to Sunrise and exercised off the ice, but he had not skated since suffering a concussion in Game 2 until taking part in Toronto’s optional practice Friday morning.
The 20-year-old says he’s feeling better.
“He’s improved a lot,” Keefe said. “He’s been with us on the trip and getting lots of treatment.”
Knies will not be available for Game 5.
One-Timers: The bizarro Maple Leafs are 1-4 at home and 4-1 on the road this postseason. “We’re overdue to have a real solid 60-minute effort here on home ice,” Keefe said…. Ryan Lomberg (upper body) is back on the ice for the Panthers but still needs clearance to play. “The room’s louder now. The plane will be louder. It’s good to have him back,” Maurice said…. Ryan O’Reilly: “If we don’t win, we’re done. So, I think that really helps narrow the focus. We don’t have the luxury of looking ahead.”… Keefe was not a fan of Radko Gudas’s post-whistle charge of David Kämpf in Game 4: “I don’t have audio when we watch the video back, so I don’t know exactly when the whistle blew. But he knows the play has ended or is ending. To me, that’s a hit with no intention other than to hurt the player. There was a lot of violence to it, but happy Dave is OK.”
Maple Leafs projected Game 5 lineup
Järnkrok – Matthews – Marner
Kerfoot – Tavares – Nylander
Bunting – O’Reilly – Acciari
Kämpf – Lafferty
Rielly – Schenn
Brodie – Holl
McCabe – Liljegren
Giordano
Woll (starting)
Murray