{"id":240323,"date":"2025-10-26T00:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/240323\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T00:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:58:09","slug":"wolls-return-could-be-a-huge-spark-for-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/240323\/","title":{"rendered":"Woll’s return ‘could be a huge spark’ for Leafs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leafs coach Craig Berube<\/a> held a media availability at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday afternoon. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Joseph Woll<\/a> is back with the Leafs. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was on the ice today,\u201d coach Craig Berube<\/a> confirmed ahead of Saturday\u2019s game against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s excited to be back, and we\u2019re excited, obviously, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woll had been away from the team on personal leave since Sept. 23. On Friday afternoon, the team announced that the 27-year-old from St. Louis \u201cwill resume team activities and on-ice participation as part of the return-to-play process.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the plan when it comes to getting Woll back up to speed? <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll leave [general manager Brad Treliving to] talk about the plan with him,\u201d Berube said. <\/p>\n

The team has not revealed any details regarding Woll\u2019s absence and has asked reporters to respect his privacy. As recently as Wednesday, Berube said he had no update on when Woll may return and did not know if he was skating while away from the team. <\/p>\n

Woll led the Leafs with 41 starts last season. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be great to have him back,\u201d captain Auston Matthews<\/a> said following Friday\u2019s loss in Buffalo. \u201cObviously, a big part of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woll is on long-term injured reserve, which means the earliest he can play is Nov. 1. <\/p>\n

With Woll absent, the Leafs have leaned on Anthony Stolarz<\/a> early in the season. He\u2019s started seven of the team\u2019s first eight games. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust to get him back could be a huge spark,\u201d Stolarz said of Woll. \u201cCould give us a little energy. Just seeing his face around the room, it\u2019s gonna be exciting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stolarz played a career-high 34 games last season, but also missed time with a knee injury.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Stolarz has allowed 13 goals during a three-game winless skid (0-2-1). His save percentage has fallen to .885 on the year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot for him,\u201d Berube acknowledged. \u201cWe leaned on him heavy here and it\u2019s a lot of games, a lot of hockey he\u2019s played. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s tired a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stolarz allowed five goals on 30 shots in Friday\u2019s loss in Buffalo. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just comes down to, you know, [Sabres goalie Alex Lyon<\/a>] made one more big save than me at the end there,\u201d Stolarz said. <\/p>\n

Stolarz, who led the NHL with a .926 save percentage last season, had big ice packs taped to both knees while doing his post-game media session.<\/p>\n

Cayden Primeau<\/a> started Saturday\u2019s game. He was picked up off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> on the eve of the regular season to provide the team with more depth. Primeau won his first start with the Leafs on Oct. 14 against Nashville, but looked shaky at times while allowing four goals on 30 shots. <\/p>\n

The Leafs called up Dennis Hildeby<\/a> from the AHL and the 24-year-old dressed as the back-up goalie on Saturday, which allowed Stolarz to enjoy a full day off. <\/p>\n

Leafs hope to draw energy from Woll’s return; Stolarz shows sign of fatigue Joseph Woll (personal leave) is rejoining the Leafs. “Could be a huge spark,” said Anthony Stolarz. “Could give us a little energy. Seeing his face around the room, it’s gonna be exciting.” Stolarz has started seven of eight games. “I’m sure he’s tired a little bit,” coach Craig Berube said. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

After leaving Friday\u2019s game early with an undisclosed issue, William Nylander<\/a> took the ice for warm-up on Saturday, but was ultimately unable to play. <\/p>\n

Nylander started Friday\u2019s game on the top line beside Matthews and Bobby McMann<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey looked really good,\u201d Berube said. \u201cThey were quick, supporting each other really well, strong on pucks [with] a lot of O-zone time. A lot of good things from that line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nylander scored in the first period. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were good,\u201d Matthews said of his line. \u201cWe competed really hard, generated some good chances. Two easy guys to play with … It was our first game together [and] I thought we had some good chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Nylander out, Nick Robertson became the fifth different right winger to start a game beside Matthews this season. Robertson was a healthy scratch on Friday. <\/p>\n

Nylander leads the Leafs with 13 points. He\u2019s only been held off the scoresheet in one of the eight games. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been an integral part of our team so far this year,\u201d said Stolarz. \u201cHis numbers back that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loaded-up Leafs top line shows promise before Nylander exits with injury Auston Matthews and William Nylander looked good on Friday night in Buffalo while playing together on a loaded-up top line. But the duo may not get a chance to build on the chemistry as Nylander, the team’s leading scorer, was forced to exit the game with an undisclosed injury. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Defenceman Morgan Rielly<\/a> returned to the Leafs\u2019 lineup on Saturday after missing Friday\u2019s game with an undisclosed injury picked up late in Tuesday\u2019s game against New Jersey. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Dakota Joshua<\/a> celebrated emphatically after scoring his first goal with the Leafs on Friday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d the big winger said. \u201cI guess more of a relief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua only produced one assist in his first seven games of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re with a new team and you want to make an impact every night, and I haven\u2019t had my best start to the season,\u201d the 29-year-old from Michigan said. \u201cSo it\u2019s just nice to get one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua played 12 minutes and 36 seconds on Friday, which was his second-highest total of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis game\u2019s gotten better and better,\u201d Berube said. \u201cThe last two or three games, I think his game\u2019s coming to what we expect of him. And that goal is a classic goal that he\u2019s going to score.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berube liked the offensive-zone time the line of Joshua, with Nicolas Roy<\/a> and Easton Cowan<\/a>, was able to create.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrending in the right direction,\u201d Joshua said of his game, \u201cObviously a long way to go, but yeah, just got to keep working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relieved to score first with Leafs, Joshua is ‘trending in the right direction’ Dakota Joshua admitted to feeling some relief after scoring his first goal with the Leafs on Friday night. “I haven’t had my best start to the season, so it’s just nice to get one,” he said. The big winger feels like his game is now trending in the right direction. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Leafs lines in warm-up before Saturday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n

McMann – Matthews – Nylander<\/p>\n

Knies – Tavares – Maccelli<\/p>\n

Joshua – Roy – Cowan<\/p>\n

Lorentz – Domi – Robertson<\/p>\n

McCabe – Carlo<\/p>\n

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson<\/p>\n

Benoit – Myers<\/p>\n

Primeau starts<\/p>\n

Hildeby<\/p>\n

Matthews likes how Leafs compete level is rising, but still ‘too many mistakes’ The Leafs dropped a third straight game on Friday to fall to 3-4-1, but captain Auston Matthews sees signs of progress. “The disappointing thing is I thought we competed really hard and did a lot of good things, but there’s just too many mistakes going the other way,” Matthews said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leafs coach Craig Berube held a media availability at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday afternoon. — Joseph Woll is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[712,49,48,448,82,74650],"class_list":["post-240323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}