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A pet peeve for many followers of the Toronto Maple Leafs is their inability to beat clubs at the bottom of the NHL standings. Their lack of success against the Arizona Coyotes and their long history against the Buffalo Sabres is the stuff that legends are made of and thus far this season the Leafs have lost to Anaheim, the Coyotes twice, San Jose, and the Montreal Canadiens.
Wins in these games would have Toronto within shouting distance of Boston in the Atlantic Division instead of 13 points behind the league-leading Bruins. The Leafs face the Habs for the second and final time at Centre Bell on Saturday, who due to recent injury news are a club that may be turning their focus towards improving their odds in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.
Earlier this week, it was announced that 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky would be out for three months due to a lower-body injury and on Saturday the bad news continued with winger Cole Caufield undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Caufield leads the Habs with 26 goals (10 more goals than leading scorer Nick Suzuki), on a club that has only three players with goals in double figures.
The Leafs relied on goalie Ilya Samsonov and Auston Matthews heavily in their 4-1 win over Winnipeg on Thursday. Matthews scored twice and Samsonov made 37 saves to record his second straight victory. Head coach Sheldon Keefe is rewarding Samsonov for his excellent play recently and will give him the start in Montreal.
Wayne Simmonds is expected to replace Dryden Hunt on the fourth line, and Conor Timmins will replace Jordie Benn on the bottom pairing with junior defense partner Rasmus Sandin.
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One of the big question marks going into the season for the Leafs is whether they had enough organizational goaltending depth. Toronto survived injuries to Matt Murray and Samsonov with Erik Kallgren carrying the load, and now Joseph Woll has begun to show the promise that the club thought he had when he was drafted in the third round six years ago.
After recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and knee issues, the 24-year-old has been excellent, winning his first 11 starts (including a 29-save effort in a 4-3 win in Belleville on Friday).
Woll’s health will be the focus for the rest of the season. If he can stay healthy, you would have to expect he will be in the mix for one of the two spots with the Leafs next season, especially since he would have to clear waivers and is on a one-way contract for $775,000 for another two seasons.
The Leafs have one more year with Murray at $4.68 million, and Samsonov is an RFA with arbitration eligibility next season before becoming a UFA in 2024.
William Villeneuve walks the blue line with the puck, loses it, and then catches an edge, allowing Kyle Betts to get a breakaway.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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