Joseph Woll left Thursday’s game in Raleigh after sustaining an undisclosed lower-body injury. The Leafs aren’t sure how much time the 27-year-old goalie will miss.
“Right now, I can’t give you that answer,” said coach Craig Berube. “I really don’t know.”
The injury put a damper on Toronto’s 4-1 win, which capped an impressive 4-1-0 road trip.
Woll appeared to get hurt after flashing his pad to make a save in the second period. He was seen shaking and stretching his left leg afterwards.
The Leafs have leaned heavily on Woll since he returned to the lineup on Nov. 15. Thursday marked his eighth start in nine games.
Despite missing almost all of training camp and the start of the regular season for personal reasons, Woll hit the ground running going 4-3-1 with a .927 save percentage.
“It sucks, obviously,” said winger Matthew Knies. “He’s kind of been the backbone of our team for this road trip, you know, carrying us through it all, and you don’t want to see him go down like that.”
“You never want to see that,” said captain Auston Matthews. “We’re all hoping it’s nothing too serious. He’s somebody that looks after himself extremely well, puts a lot into his craft, so we’re obviously hoping for all the best there.”
Woll’s injury leaves the Leafs without their two top goaltenders. Anthony Stolarz is out with an upper-body injury and still hasn’t skated since getting hurt on Nov. 11. There is no timeline for his return.
“This stuff happens and, you know, you just handle it,” said Berube when asked about the goaltending uncertainty.
Dennis Hildeby replaced Woll for the third period and stopped all nine shots he faced. The 6-foot-7 Swede revealed that Woll gave him a heads up that he would be going in during the second intermission.
“Beast came in and it was unbelievable for us,” said Matthews. “They’re a high-shot-volume team, and they get guys to the net and I thought he handled it with a lot of confidence and made some big saves for us.”
Hildeby is 1-2-1 with a .917 save percentage with the Leafs this season. He has made more relief appearances (four) than starts (three). The 24-year-old Swede is now suddenly the No. 1 goalie on the team’s depth chart.
“You always got to be ready,” he said. “Just do the best you can and just enjoy the moment, if that’s the case.”
Hildeby is in line to start Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, who are two points up on the Leafs for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Hildeby made his NHL debut last season starting six games and posting an .878 save percentage. He feels like he’s taken a significant step since then.
“A little calmer,” he said. “Better reads, which comes with experience too. Just calmer, I would say, in general.”
Artur Akhtyamov is the next man up on the goalie depth chart. He is 7-5-0 with an .896 save percentage in the American Hockey League this season. The 24-year-old Russian has yet to play in the NHL.
The Leafs are off on Friday. The team’s next skate is scheduled for Saturday morning at Scotiabank Arena.