Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll will get the start for Thursday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, head coach Craig Berube confirmed.
Woll has posted a 3-3-1 record with a .924 save percentage thus far this season, featuring as one of the team’s most important players. Anthony Stolarz is out of the lineup indefinitely as he recovers from an upper-body injury, and Woll has firmly taken over as the top goaltender, with Dennis Hildeby operating as his backup.
There are no other changes to the lineup, as the Maple Leafs will look to carry their momentum from Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. It was the team’s most complete victory of the year, and a new-look third line of Dakota Joshua, Nicolas Roy and Bobby McMann have formed real chemistry together during the road trip.
“They are forming an identity, those three guys right now,” Berube said of the Joshua-Roy-McMann line following Wednesday’s practice.
“They are all on the same page. You have some good speed out there with Bobby (McMann) getting on pucks, and (Joshua) is really starting to skate now, too. It is the difference in his game for me: his skating.”
Matias Maccelli, Calle Jarnkrok and Dakota Mermis will be healthy scratches. Berube provided a candid assessment of Maccelli’s game following Wednesday’s practice. The 25-year-old winger recorded four goals and nine points in 22 games this season.
“He knows that he has to be better,” Berube said. “We put him in the Washington game, and there wasn’t a lot there. I thought he struggled in that game. We won the last couple, so I am not going to change the lineup.”
Toronto concludes its road trip Thursday, before heading home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Maple Leafs’ projected lineup vs. Hurricanes
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Max Domi
Easton Cowan-John Tavares-William Nylander
Dakota Joshua-Nicolas Roy-Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Nick Robertson
Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit-Philippe Myers
Joseph Woll (confirmed starter)
Dennis Hildeby
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