The Maple Leafs’ goalie troubles just went from bad to worse. Joseph Woll, who’s been holding down the fort in net, is now headed to injured reserve after getting hurt in Thursday’s game against Carolina.
It’s a tough break for Toronto, who were already missing Anthony Stolarz to an upper-body injury for the past month.
Woll had been playing really well as the team’s main goalie. Since stepping in for Stolarz, he put up impressive numbers: a 4-3-1 record with a .923 save percentage and only 2.44 goals against per game.
In fact, he’s been outperforming Stolarz this season. Woll’s already saved 6.1 more goals than an average goalie would have – better than Stolarz has managed in five more games.
Now the Leafs are in a real pickle.
They’re turning to Dennis Hildeby as their starter, but he’s still pretty green. While he’s shown some promise this year (1-2-1 record, .919 save percentage), he’s only played in 13 NHL games total.
To back him up, they’ve called up Artur Akhtyamov from their minor league team. The 24-year-old has never played an NHL game, and his numbers in the AHL haven’t been great – just a .896 save percentage this season.
It’s a risky situation for a team trying to stay competitive. They’re basically crossing their fingers that either Woll or Stolarz can get back soon, or that their rookie goalies can somehow rise to the challenge.
The pressure’s really on Hildeby now. He’ll need to play way above his experience level to keep the Leafs from falling behind in the standings while their top two goalies heal up.
