Leafs place Joseph Woll on injured reserve
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they’ve placed goaltender Joseph Woll on injured reserve.
The Maple Leafs have recalled G Artur Akhtyamov from the Toronto Marlies (AHL). G Joe Woll (lower body) has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 4.
Woll sustained a lower-body injury during Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s unclear what exactly caused the injury, as he seemingly played through the first two periods without an issue, but he did not return to play for the third period, with the team announcing that he would be out of the game.
While there’s no update on how long Woll is expected to be out of the lineup, a placement on injured reserve retroactive to December 4th indicates that he will at least miss Saturday’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens and Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Whether his injury will keep him out beyond those two games has yet to be confirmed.
Woll has already missed the first 18 games of the Leafs season due to a personal leave, and has only played eight games this season. He has performed really well in those eight games with a 4-3-1 record, a .928 SV% and a 0.54 5v5 GSAx.
With Anthony Stolarz also out long-term for the Leafs with an upper-body injury, Dennis Hildeby is expected to be the starting goaltender in the meantime. Already with a new career-high in games played this season, Hildeby has been an excellent third option for the Leafs, as despite a 1-2-1 record, he has a .919 SV% and 2.82 5v5 GSAx.
The Leafs also recalled goaltender Artur Akhtyamov from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, and he is expected to be the backup goaltender for the time being. The Leafs don’t play a back-to-back until December 20th and 21st against the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, so Akhtyamov doesn’t have to play until then. Akhtyamov has struggled in the AHL this season with an .896 SV% despite a 7-5-0 record.
The Leafs currently sit in sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 13-11-3 record, and are four points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They will look to build on a stretch of four wins in five games in Woll’s absence when they host the Canadiens on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST.