Toronto’s Joseph Woll ruled out for Game 7 vs. Bruins

Auston Matthews is set to return for the Toronto Maple Leafs for Saturday’s Game 7 showdown against the Bruins. 

But in a surprising turn of events, the Maple Leafs will try to beat the Bruins in their own building without goaltender Joseph Woll. Woll, who has kept Toronto’s season alive by winning Games 5 and 6, will not play in Game 7 after suffering an injury on Thursday night. 

With Woll sidelined, the Maple Leafs will turn to Ilya Samsonov on Saturday night. Martin Jones will be Toronto’s backup. 

“What I can tell you on Woll is there was a play at the end of Game 6 in Toronto where he had to sort of stretch out to make a save and there’s some thought that he was possibly injured on that play,” TSN’s Chris Johnston said of Woll’s status. “Now, he did take the starter’s net at the morning skate, did what I would call was a typical routine — at least to my eyes — of what he would do. So there wasn’t any hint, necessarily, at that point, that he wouldn’t play. 

“But it’s pretty notable that Martin Jones, who is the Leafs’ third goaltender, arrived with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll on the same team bus to TD Garden tonight, which suggests at least the possibility that all or any of those three could be dressed for the game and ultimately, if Woll is unable to go, the job would fall to Ilya Samsonov — who hasn’t played for a week in this series.”

The absence of Woll stands as a huge hit for the Maple Leafs, who were pushed to the brink of elimination with Samsonov in net. Samsonov was 1-3 in his first four games of this series, sporting an .883 save percentage before getting pulled in Game 4 for Woll. 

Woll, who played three seasons at Boston College, was a revelation in net for Toronto in this series. Even with Boston failing to pepper Woll in net, the 25-year-old goalie made the saves when needed — stopping 54 of the 56 shots that came his way. 

Even with Samsonov in net, the Maple Leafs should receive a significant boost with Matthews back in the lineup. Matthews has missed the last two games for Toronto due to illness/injury, with Toronto managing to post two straight wins over that stretch thanks to Woll and a stingy defensive effort.

Still, Matthews is a 69-goal scorer who dominated in Toronto’s Game 2 win at TD Garden — scoring a goal and two primary assists over 23:24 of ice time while adding eight shots on goal, a team-high six hits, and winning 16 of 23 face-offs.

As for the Bruins, Jeremy Swayman will get the start in the net for the fifth straight game. Swayman is 3-2 in this series, sporting a .947 save percentage. Danton Heinen, who skated on Saturday morning, was not on the ice for warmups and is expected to miss a second straight game.