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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been the beneficiaries of strong goaltending against the Dallas Stars in recent history. Last December, Matt Murray stopped 44 shots with a short-handed Leafs defense in front of him in a 4-0 win. 10 months later, it was Joseph Woll standing on his head, as the rookie stopped 31 shots in a 4-1 win over the Stars on Thursday.
Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, Tyler Bertuzzi, and John Tavares scored for Toronto, who are winners of three straight. Rielly scored in the first on a nice setup from William Nylander, former Leaf Mason Marchment tied the game for Dallas in the second period before Marner scored the game-winner late in the middle frame, Bertuzzi added a power play goal in the third, with Tavares scoring into the empty net with time running out.
beautiful pair of helpers, solid finish pic.twitter.com/p9IYjqNDYQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 27, 2023
The story for Toronto once again was Woll, who after a light opening 20 minutes faced 27 Dallas shots and was acrobatic at times in the Leafs goal.
“Joseph Woll was terrific again for us and gave the group confidence to just find a way to grind out a good road win.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “It is not surprising anymore. I have seen enough of it this season and last season, in practices, and everything. We are at the point where he is a quality NHL goaltender. He is a young guy and is going to continue to get better with the more experience and lessons he learns along the way. I don’t think we are surprised by anything at this stage.…
JOSEPH WOLL ROBS ROBERTSON pic.twitter.com/opGWGK1pks
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 27, 2023
The Leafs played almost all of the game with five defensemen, as Jake McCabe left the game on his first shift after suffering a lower-body injury. Rielly led the club with more than 26 minutes of ice time, and John Klingberg, Timothy Liljegren and TJ Brodie all played in excess of 20 minutes on the night.
The Leafs finish off their five-game road trip in Nashville on Saturday night, with Ilya Samsonov starting in goal.
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