Photo credit: Eric Bolte – Imagn Images
With the Maple Leafs firing blanks, a frustrated Craig Berube explains his decision to pull goaltender Joseph Woll with the game getting out of hand.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ tough stretch continued last night after falling for the 7th time over their last 8 games with a disastrous loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens jumped to a quick 4-0 lead, which prompted head coach Craig Berube to pull goaltender Joseph Woll for Dennis Hildeby in an effort to jumpstart his team and get a spark going.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work as planned, despite the Leafs managing to score 2 goals after the move, but their comeback attempt fell short of the mark in their eventual 5-2 loss.
After the game, Berube was asked about the decision to pull Woll, whereupon he said it was a two-pronged decision, as he wanted to give the 27-year-old a bit of rest after having started the last 4 games since his return and to also jumpstart his team to get some life back on the bench.
It’s hard to pin the game on the goaltender with how the Canadiens dominated play through the first 40 minutes of play. They fired 25 shots on goal towards Woll before he was finally pulled after allowing the 4th goal with less than 7 minutes remaining in the second period.
There wasn’t much Woll could do on the first three goals. Lane Hutson was left unmarked before uncorking a one-timer to open the scoring, and then Noah Dobson scored on a knuckler from the point, before adding his second of the night on an abbreviated odd-man rush that came about from a bad line change.It was pretty clear that Berube had enough of the Leafs’ overall lackadaisical play and didn’t want to leave Woll on an island by himself for the latter half of the game. With Anthony Stolarz sidelined, Woll has immediately taken on a large workload, and Berube felt a rest was needed.
The Leafs aren’t back in action until Wednesday when they play the Columbus Blue Jackets for the third time in less than a month. They’ve dropped both games, the most recent one coming in overtime, but it will be interesting to see if Berube turns back to Woll for that game, or if he gives him a rest and starts Hildeby.
Hildeby has shown he’s more than capable of playing more, and with 3 days off in between, it could be an added reprieve for Woll, who missed the first month and a half of game action tending to a personal matter.
Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily
POLL
21 HOURS AGOÂ Â Â |Â Â Â 399 ANSWERS
A Frustrated Craig Berube Reveals Why He Decided to Pull Joseph Woll During Leafs’ Loss
Who should start in goal on Wednesday night against Columbus?