Woll ensures Leafs escape Edmonton with 4-3 win

EDMONTON – What looked similar a crippled connected cruise power ended up with a chaotic decorativeness and a suspiration of alleviation for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who held connected for a 4-3 triumph implicit the Edmonton Oilers connected Saturday.

After taking a 3-0 pb connected first-period connected goals by Matthew Knies, William Nylander and Bobby McMann, and going up 4-1 conscionable 18 seconds into the 3rd play connected a extremity by Mitch Marner, the crippled looked to beryllium successful the container for the Leafs, who came into the crippled with a 20-0-0 grounds erstwhile starring aft 40 minutes.

However, Edmonton mounted a comeback and adjacent looked to person tied the crippled with 2:04 remaining successful the 3rd play and the goalie pulled arsenic Connor McDavid sent a walk crossed to Leon Draisaitl and helium picked the apical country with a one-timer. However, it turned retired that Oilers newcomer John Klingberg was offside connected the play aft a coach’s challenge.

“We couldn’t get rather the space we wanted truthful I called a timeout to springiness them much clip and they made a large call,” said Toronto caput manager Craig Berube of the palmy challenge.

The Oilers poured it connected to the ligament and came adjacent connected aggregate occasions, but Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll came up immense and was capable to marque a sprawling mitt prevention connected Oiler Corey Perry successful the dying seconds to sphere the win.

“It was conscionable mayhem, guys diving everywhere, trying to get successful lanes, trying to artifact shots, trying to bash the champion we tin to support the puck retired of the net, said Marner, who recorded 2 points to go the fastest Toronto subordinate to scope 70 points successful a play (52 games) since Doug Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk successful 1993-94.

Perry wished helium hadn’t been truthful adjacent to the last buzzer connected the play.

“I knew determination wasn’t immoderate clip left. I deliberation it deed his mitt and the buzzer went,” said Perry, who scored his 10th of the play with 8:27 to play successful the 3rd play to propulsion the Oilers to wrong one. “I didn’t person overmuch clip to get it off. If I had an other second, I astir apt would’ve stepped astir him and took 1 much measurement and changeable it, but I didn’t person that time.”

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Woll was cardinal to the victory, making 45 saves connected the night.

“They’re a bully squad evidently and they made a bully push, and I was conscionable doing everything successful my powerfulness to support the puck retired of the net,” Woll said. “It was a bully triumph for us, a large win.”

Toronto snapped a three-game losing skid with the victory, but Berube wasn’t pleased that the Leafs took their feet disconnected the state pedal.

“We did a batch of bully things, but I deliberation we could person been much assertive with the lead,” helium said. “I’m not critiquing the win, due to the fact that a win’s a win, but I deliberation we could person pushed a small spot much connected them. Woll was great, guys battled, it was a battle, playoff-type game, batch of recognition to their team, they’ve precise good.”

Toronto was buoyed by the returns of Knies and John Tavares from injury, but saw defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson permission the contention with a lower-body injury.

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Feb. 1, 2025.