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The Toronto Maple Leafs weathered an early onslaught from the struggling Washington Capitals, relying heavily on goaltender Joseph Woll in a 4-1 victory at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.
Woll made 17 saves and stopped Alex Ovechkin on a penalty shot in the first period, keeping a Washington squad desperate for goals off the scoreboard, while the Leafs made the most of 17 shots on goal, scoring four times on Darcy Kuemper.
Morgan Rielly, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, and Woll finished with 36 saves in his second victory of the season.
bird's eye view pic.twitter.com/qNcwvWaRxC
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 25, 2023
“(Joe) is composed and under control, and there were some saves that required a great deal of athleticism to make a sort of desperation type of save.…Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He tracks the puck, he finds it, and he has the flexibility, strength, and athleticism to get there. It was impressive.…
The Capitals are clearly a club on the downslope and seemed overly focused on getting Alex Ovechkin his first goal. The future Hall of Famer did get his first of the season and almost outshot the Leafs by himself with 14 on the night.
The turning point of the game may have been the overturned goal in the first period. Keefe and the Leafs coaching staff took a timeout and then appealed based on goalie interference and it was clear from the replay that the Capitals impeded Woll before the puck crossed the line. Moments later, Rielly scored to give Toronto the lead and the proverbial air was out of Washington’s balloon.
“It is obviously a big moment in the game. It gives us a chance to regroup after that. Ultimately, we score first, so now we are ahead on the scoreboard versus chasing a game. To that end, it is big.… Keefe said. “It was just the debate on whether Ovechkin driving through really impeded Joe’s ability to make a save or recover. Those are tough ones to call, but the guys felt strongly that it was. It took some time to convince me of it. I have seen a lot of those go the other way.…
MO STRIKES FIRST! pic.twitter.com/uVy2O6CLbc
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 24, 2023
The Leafs traveled to Dallas and will take on the Stars on Thursday. It is unknown to this point whether Keefe will ride the hot hand and go with Woll in consecutive starts, but if he does, it will be a match between the Leafs goalie and his 2018 Team USA tandem partner Jake Oettinger.
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