Joseph Woll stands tall as Maple Leafs edge Avs on bizarre short-handed goal

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Maybe the Maple Leafs have found their No. 1 goalie, while discovering a unique way of beating the Colorado Avalanche.

Joseph Woll made 38 saves in a playoff-paced 2-1 win Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena, rewarding head coach Craig Berube’s faith in him for consecutive starts to break up the rotation with Anthony Stolarz.

Toronto took the lead in the third period on a bizarre play. With Berube doing a slow burn over his team’s second too-many-men call in three games, Simon Benoit’s clearing shot from deep in his own zone, struck the back side of referee Kelly Sutherland, who’d hit a rut and stumbled seconds earlier beyond centre ice. Thus, the puck was sitting there for Steven Lorentz to scoop up, move in from the left wing and beat Mackenzie Blackwood high glove side.

Woll closed strong, including getting a mitt on Brock Nelson’s shot from the slot.

Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews, continuing their 4 Nations Face-Off rivalry, had their lines go head-to-head all night, Matthews getting eight shots on goal.

Before a penalty from in the first period had elapsed, Leafs captain Matthews first had a clean look at Blackwood, then beat him with an intended pass for Matthew Knies that went in off Devon Toews’ stick.

Next shift, Matthews bulled past Nelson and hit the crossbar, but in between, the game was tied by Valeri Nichushkin on Colorado’s first man-advantage. That was four goals for the Russian in five periods against the Leafs this year.

The period also featured the second 4-on-4 session of the game, the extra room highlighting the dynamic players on each side and ended with a wild scramble around Woll after Mitch Marner lost his stick.

After a 7-4 home-ice win for Colorado on March 8, a day after the trade deadline re-shaped both rosters, the first period on Wednesday was scoreless. But it wasn’t for lack of effort by the visitors, who peppered Woll with 13 shots, the first six before the Leafs managed their first. The Avs used their speed to effectively harass Toronto’s breakout.

Berube didn’t change the lineup from a 6-2 win over Calgary on Monday night, but expect Stolarz in New York on Thursday against the Rangers and perhaps the return of bottom-six centre David Kampf after an unusually long three-game stretch as a healthy scratch. Berube did not use his fourth line very much as it was under pressure.

The win pushed the Leafs back into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division with idle Florida.

 Lhornby@postmedia.com 

X: @sunhornby    

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