Joseph Woll made 33 saves, many of them spectacular, leading the Maple Leafs to a 4-0 victory over New Jersey on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Dakota Joshua, and Chris Tanev were all absent from Toronto’s Lineup, but the depleted Leafs, particularly Woll, rose to the occasion and secured a much-needed win.
The power play continued to click. Bobby McMann opened the scoring on the man advantage at 14:21 of the first period. Nicholas Robertson kept a Devil’s clearing attempt in the zone, then centred the puck between the circles to McMann, who wristed it by Jacob Markstrom to make it 1-0.
The Leafs extended their lead in the second. Nicolas Roy scored his 4th of the season on a redirection of a redirection, beating Markstrom to make 2-0 at 14:24.
Toronto poured it on in the third. Calle Jarnkrok snapped his 13-game goalless drought with a deflected wrist shot from the slot at 6:35, then Matthew Knies added his 11th of the season, an empty net goal at 17:01, to make the final 4-0.
Next up: Toronto hosts Winnipeg on January 1st at Scotiabank Arena.
