TORONTO — Joseph Woll is heading back under the postseason spotlight.
It’s a place the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender has thrived in the past.
Woll will get the start for Toronto in Game 2 of the team’s second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old entered Monday’s opener midway through the second period after starter Anthony Stolarz took an elbow to the head from Sam Bennett.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Leafs captain Auston Matthews said Wednesday said of Woll. “He’s extremely focused, does all the right things.”
Coach Craig Berube left the door open for Stolarz to play in Game 2, but told reporters at Scotiabank Arena following Toronto’s morning skate the 31-year-old is “recovering” and “doing well.”
Veteran netminder Matt Murray, who spent most of this season in the American Hockey League, will serve as Woll’s backup over Dennis Hildeby. The rookie was on the bench in the third period of Game 1.
“Experience, I think, more than anything,” Berube said of turning to Murray, a two-time Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“He’s been there, done it.”
The Panthers, meanwhile, will have defenseman Aaron Ekblad available after he served a two-game suspension for a head shot on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the first round.
“I was aiming for his chest and I caught him in the chin,” Ekblad said in his first comments since the incident that knocked Hagel out of the series. “I’m never out to hurt anybody on the ice. It’s unfortunate the way that the outcome happened.
“It is what it is and we all move on.”
The 29-year-old Ekblad was selected No. 1 overall at the 2014 draft had recently returned after getting suspended 20 games for violating the NHL/NHL Players’ Association policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Ekblad returned for Game 3 of the Tampa series before the Hagel incident in Game 4 that led to his most recent suspension.
“Whirlwind of a season,” he said. “It’s not the way I scripted it, but we’re here now. We’re in the playoffs. It’s a great opportunity to continue playing hockey.”
Woll was solid off the bench and held off the Panthers late in a nail-biting 5-4 victory Monday for Toronto, stopping 17 of 20 shots as Florida rallied after trailing 4-1 through 40 minutes.
“It’s not easy to get just thrown into fire like that,” Matthews said. “He’ll be prepared and ready to go. A lot of confidence in him.”
Stolarz, who also took a shot off his mask early in Game 1, was briefly able to continue following the collision with Bennett — a bruising center and former teammate from last season’s Stanley Cup-winning Panthers roster — before he vomited into Toronto’s bench a few minutes later and headed to the locker room.
Stolarz was then transported to a hospital for evaluation, but was back with his teammates Tuesday morning at the Leafs’ practice facility.
Woll has a solid .910 save percentage in 78 regular-season games. His numbers in the postseason are even better. The netminder from suburban St. Louis has stopped 113 of 119 shots in four playoff starts for a .950 save percentage.
The 62nd pick at the 2016 draft — the same year Toronto took Matthews at No. 1 — helped the Leafs stave off second-round elimination down 3-0 to Florida in 2023 after Ilya Samsonov went down with an injury before making 40 stops in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 5.
Woll started Game 5 in last spring’s opening round against the Boston Bruins when Samsonov was again sidelined. He allowed two goals on 59 combined shots over the next two games to help the Leafs force Game 7, but he had a back issue and was unable play in the series finale Toronto dropped 2-1 in OT.
“He’s just mentally very resilient, very strong,” Matthews said. “Nothing really necessarily gets to him.”
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