Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll had a good sense that William Nylander was going to score against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Why? Because, Woll had no luck stopping Nylander in Monday’s practice, and knew if he got a good look, the puck would end up in the back of the net.
60 minutes later, Nylander pots a hat-trick and leads the Maple Leafs to an ‘Alberta Sweep’, with a 6-3 victory over the Flames. Woll met with reporters postgame, following his 23-save performance in Calgary, and shared that he started laughing once Nylander got the puck on his stick in a high-danger area. “I was just laughing. Yesterday in practice, he scored on me, like, every time he shot on me. So as soon as he got the puck on the 2-on-1, I’m like – there’s no question he’s gonna score.”
“You guys see it, he’s a special player, and anytime the puck is in his hands, he’s dangerous,” continued Woll. Nylander’s hat trick was just the second of his career. A wild stat is the fact his last hat-trick was exactly eight years to the day.
FUN FACT: William Nylander’s hat trick tonight comes exactly eight years after his first and only other career hat trick (Feb. 4, 2017)! 🤯
Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/JU313Qe5O5
— NHL (@NHL) February 5, 2025
Another fun fact is how Nylander doesn’t read scouting reports on goaltenders before games, he just trusts his instincts, and let’s just say they haven’t steered him wrong to this point. Nylander is up to 33 goals on the season, good for second place in the NHL, four behind Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl. With how good Nylander’s been this year, it’s pretty wild to think he’s still 15 points behind Mitch Marner for the team lead. Marner missed Tuesday’s action with a lower-body injury but should be good to go for next week’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
As for Woll, he now improves to 19-10-0 on the season and has played more minutes this year than he did all last season. Considering Anthony Stolarz’s injury, and how Woll started the season banged up himself, he’s quickly turned into the Maple Leafs unsung hero.
Woll, Nylander, and the rest of the Leafs will look to keep the good times rolling when they visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. Good news for Woll: He doesn’t have to try to stop Nylander at practice on Wednesday. Head coach Craig Berube cancelled it at Nylander’s request.
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