‘Calm’ Woll earns Price comparison, pushes for more starts with Leafs

The Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals practised at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va., on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s game. 

Leafs winger Max Domi had some high praise for Joseph Woll following Saturday's overtime win in Tampa. 

"He really kind of reminds me of Carey Price's demeanour," the former Montreal Canadien said after watching Woll stop all 29 shots faced in a relief performance. "He's very calm and relaxed both on and off the ice ... He's very similar to Pricey. Super low key. Super humble and just wants to do his job."

Woll can't help but smile when those words are relayed. 

"That's very nice of him," the 25-year-old from St. Louis said. "It's pretty cool. I grew up loving Carey Price. He was my favourite goalie as a kid and someone I've modelled my game after growing up a lot so that's a very nice compliment."

What did Woll admire about Price? 

"He's so good technically, but at the same time he can play athletic and make saves when he needs to," the Boston College product said. "Plays pretty free, but also very stoic."

Woll will make just his 13th career regular season start on Tuesday in Washington, but he's already built a lot of trust with the Leafs. The team turned to their third-round pick from the 2016 draft instead of Matt Murray in the playoffs last season after Ilya Samsonov got hurt. 

"He doesn't seem to be bothered by the moment," observed coach Sheldon Keefe. "He is just focused on the work. That is what has been nice from my perspective. I just step back and watch a lot of times. He has been really, really focused and committed to just doing the things that he needs to do and controlling what he can control, allowing his talent to take over from there."

It wasn't always easy for Woll, who found the transition from college to the American Hockey League tricky. 

"The past couple years I spent a lot of time making sure my mindset is right and being able to stay in the moment and that allows me to play play free and trust myself," he said. "I think I have a very thinking mind so the best I can do when I'm on the ice is kind of quiet that and just let myself play."

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Woll entered the season as the No. 2 goalie on the depth chart behind Samsonov, who started four of the first five games. But Samsonov has struggled, allowing 14 goals and posting an ugly .831 save percentage. He was pulled on Saturday after allowing three goals on four shots. 

"It's not easy," the 26-year-old Russian said. "It's hard to go to the bench after [four] shots. It's not what I want to see, but I need to stay positive and keep working, working hard in the practice. Sometimes we have bad situation, yeah, but most important is how you learning [from] this."

Samsonov is looking to get back to basics with goalie coach Curtis Sanford. 

"Just forget everything and start simple," he said, "especially after this game."

"He is handling it fine," said Keefe. "Obviously, he is not happy with it, but he just continues to put in his work."

It's a nightmare start to a big year for Samsonov. He signed another one-year deal with the Leafs in the summer following an arbitration hearing and is due to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.  

Tuesday is a scheduled start for Woll, but there's now a chance he'll get more than anticipated if he keeps performing well. Keefe made that clear after Saturday's game when asked if Woll is pushing Samsonov. 

"Oh, he's pushing," the coach quipped. 

That's OK with Samsonov. 

"You have a more motivation," Samsonov said. "We try to push each other all the time."

Keefe is quick to point out this situation isn't unexpected or out of the ordinary in today's NHL. 

"That is very healthy," the coach stressed. "There are lots of teams in that situation. I think it is proven more and more that teams require two goalies to not just push each other but share the workload ... Obviously, you would like to have two goalies that are really thriving. That is the goal. But that is the idea when you have two: If one is slipping a little bit, you have another guy to go to. You can work with the other and look to get both of their games rolling. If the other one starts to slip, you hope the other one is on the rise. That is kind of the beauty of having two guys that we believe in. We hope that there are no true lulls in the goaltending." 

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Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov was surprised to learn his former teammate and good friend Samsonov wasn't starting on Tuesday. 

"I guess now we have to try a little more harder," the 31-year-old centre said with a laugh. "It's all jokes, right. I'm very close friends with him and his family."

Samsonov, who spent three years with the Capitals before the team decided not to extend him a qualifying offer following the 2021-22 season, met up with countrymen Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin on Sunday. He plans to pass along some insider information on his pals to Woll. 

"We will be talking about Ovi, yeah, a little bit," Samsonov confirmed. "I will a little bit try and help him."

Woll is relishing the chance to face one of the game's greatest goal scorers. 

"As you start to play more games you start to play these guys you grew up watching," Woll said. "It will be special to be on the same ice as him."

Ovechkin is without a goal through four games, which matches his longest-ever drought to start a season. He also went four games without a goal in 2013 before scoring in his fifth game. 

"Getting there," the Capitals captain said of his play. "I do have to do my best job, my best thing to do, you know."

"I couldn't notice one instance where I've seen frustration or him pressing," said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery.

The Capitals rank last in goals per game this season (1.25) and have yet to score on the power play. They need Ovechkin to help jumpstart the offence. Carbery liked what he saw from the 38-year-old on Saturday in Montreal. 

"I felt like it was closer to the the first game where he was getting a ton of opportunities, getting in more of those spots that you traditionally see him in," the coach noted. "Now, [they] haven't gone in for him, but it's only a matter of time. He keeps getting in those spots and they will go in for him."  

After being held without a shot in consecutive games for the first time in his career, Ovechkin fired five shots on net and picked up an assist during Saturday's overtime loss to the Canadiens. 

"This was our best game," Ovechkin said. "Obviously we lost, but chances we generate through all those three periods, it was a good sign."

The Capitals hope the floodgates are about to open, especially for Ovechkin. 

"As a goal scorer you feed off that, right," said Kuznetsov. "You want to score, you want to get the chances, you want to get the looks, but I'm pretty sure that as soon as it's going to be one in the net then the storm's coming. It's one of those moments when he probably hasn't dealt yet in his career but, at the same time, it's pretty exciting to see what's going to happen after he gets one."

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Ovechkin is usually a Leafs-killer with 41 goals and 74 points in 56 regular-season games against Toronto. However, he was held without a point in all three games against the Leafs last season and was limited to one assist in three games the previous year. The Capitals didn't play the Leafs during the 2020-21 season. So, Ovechkin actually hasn't scored on the Leafs since Oct. 29, 2019. 

That was the day Ovechkin made waves by saying the Leafs core needed to change in order to win. 

"I hope they're going to learn," Ovechkin said in a pre-game scrum. "It's up to them how they want to do it and if they want to play for yourself, or if they want to win a Cup, they have to play differently."

Four years later, Kuznetsov was asked if he sees any similarities between the current Leafs situation and what his Capitals went through before finally breaking through and winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. 

"So, you trying to stay they're going to win the Cup," Kuznetsov shot back with a laugh. 

Well, it could happen. Kuznetsov agreed. 

"I've kind of been a little bit of a fan of their game and the way they play," he said. "It's a fun hockey team to watch, but same time there's a lot of good teams in this league and I know you guys in that city has no patience. You think that Stanley Cup could win tonight. Teams build for 10, 15 years sometimes. I wish them all the best and I feel like they go in the right direction."

The Capitals didn't win the Cup until Ovechkin's 13th season. This is year No. 8 for Auston Matthews, who inked a four-year extension with the Leafs in the summer. 

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During their catch-up session on Sunday, Samsonov and his old teammates discussed Kuznetsov's slow shootout move, which has proven to be controversial. 

"It's really hard for goalie," said Samsonov. "Everybody ask me what to do. I think some goalies want to hit his stick."

"I don't get the point when some people put in the bad comments," Kuznetsov said. "I'm not trying to be cocky, it's just something that helps my team to get goals and if it's going to continue to work I'm going to continue to do that stuff ... I'm not trying to be bad example, I'm just found a way that's been working for me."

Kuznetsov scored once again on the move during a shootout win over the Calgary Flames last week. He has converted eight of his last nine shootout attempts so it's clearly effective. 

Would Leafs winger William Nylander try it? 

"Maybe," he said with a smile. "I can't tell you guys that"

"It's something that if you try to do and it's not going to work out you're going to be under a lot of pressure," Kuznetsov pointed out. "But, at the same time, I feel like the pressure ... kind of helps you to be even more focused."

How did this all start? Well, Kuznetsov missed on his first six shootout attempts at the start of 2021-22 season. 

"One year I hit like three or four times post in a row and I wasn't really understanding why I was hitting the post," he recalled. 

Kuznetsov would always skate in slow, but never super slow like he does now. Then on March 25, 2022 he recalibrated during a shootout against the Buffalo Sabres. 

"That's when I tried to slow down a little bit and understand a little bit angle and stuff," he explained. "So, I tried [going really slow] one time and it helped me to score the goal and I've continued to do that."

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During a Leafs practice on Feb. 28 in Seattle, defenceman Rasmus Sandin was pulled off the ice and informed he'd been traded to the Capitals. Nylander draped his arm around his friend and gave him a pep talk while walking him out of the building. Cameras captured the emotional farewell. 

"He's one of my best friends and just sharing that last little bit as teammates together was special," Sandin recalled. "Glad you guys had it on video, too, so something to look back on a bit."

"Being friends and living with each other for a long time it was tough seeing him go," Nylander said. "That was a new experience for me, but it is what it is."

Nylander, 27, and Sandin, 23, train together during the off-season in Sweden. They always compete against each other in those summer skates and on the golf course as well. On Tuesday they will face off in the NHL for the first time and bragging rights are on the line. 

"It's always like that no matter what we do," Sandin said. "It would be a tough one to lose."

Who has the edge in their personal rivalry these days? 

"Probably me," Nylander said. "Not in the kitchen, though, but he can have that one."

Sandin was the de facto chef when the pair lived together. 

Does Sandin know how to get Nylander off his game? 

"Yeah, yeah I do," he said with a grin. "Not going to share that."

"He tries to, but he can't," Nylander assured. 

Does Nylander know how to get under Sandin's skin? 

"I just let him be," he said. "He'll be a little cranky otherwise."  

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Nylander is off to the most productive five-game start in his NHL career. After picking up a goal and an assist on Saturday, he is up to nine points in five games. 

"I just feel like I'm skating well and that's all I need to do is skate well," he said. 

Nylander and John Tavares, who also has nine points in five games, will have a new winger on Tuesday night with Tyler Bertuzzi moving to the second line. 

"I haven't played with him all camp," noted Nylander. "We had some nice plays today in practice so hopefully we build off of that. He's a tremendous player so we'll complement each other really well."

Bertuzzi started the season on the top line with Matthews and Mitch Marner, but has yet to pick up an even-strength point. On Thursday in Florida, he was moved down the lineup due in part to a nagging injury, which left him ill-equipped to handle the heavy minutes and tough matchups that Toronto's top line gets. On Saturday, Bertuzzi was again moved off the top line with the Leafs trailing 3-1. It was Nylander who moved up to play with Matthews and Marner as part of a super line. 

On Monday, Calle Jarnkrok skated with Matthews and Marner at practice. David Kampf skated as the third-line centre between Matthew Knies and Max Domi. That duo connected twice in the third period in Tampa to help the Leafs tie things up. 

"It is more wanting to get a look with Jarnkrok back with Matthews and Marner," Keefe explained of the new alignment. "In the last two games, I have started with Bert with Auston and then stepped away from it. With so many new guys, we will keep tinkering with it until we find something that clicks as we did with Knies and Domi the other day. It seemed like that worked well and those guys enjoyed playing with one another, so you stay with that and sort of tackle the rest of it."

Keefe liked how Pontus Holmberg, in his season debut, stabilized the fourth line with Noah Gregor and Ryan Reaves. 

"The best our fourth line has been in any of the games we have played," the coach said. "I know we didn't use them a lot, but I was really happy with that group. You keep that together and you keep working with the rest."

Fraser Minten, 19, will sit out a second straight game. 

"We are just taking it a day at a time at this point," Keefe said. "It is a good chance for him to step back and take a breath a little bit. He has played a lot of hockey. He has had a lot going on. We will take it a day at a time in terms of when he may get back in. For now, it is just about soaking up the experience and staying ready." 

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Lines at Monday's Leafs practice: 

Jarnkrok - Matthews - Marner 

Bertuzzi - Tavares - Nylander 

Knies - Kampf - Domi 

Gregor - Holmberg - Reaves 

Minten 

Rielly - Brodie 

McCabe - Liljegren 

Giordano - Klingberg 

Woll 

Samsonov 

Power-play units at Monday's Leafs practice: 

PP1

Klingberg, Matthews, Marner, Nylander Tavares 

PP2

Liljegren, Rielly, Domi, Jarnkrok, Bertuzzi 

Lines at Monday's Capitals practice: 

Ovechkin - Strome - Phillips 

McMichael - Kuznetsov - Oshie 

Milano - Backstrom - Wilson 

Malenstyn - Protas - Mantha

Fehervary - Carlson

Sandin - van Riemsdyk

Alexeyev - Jensen

Haman Aktell - Johansen

Kuemper

Stevenson