Joseph Woll gets deeply honest after tough game against Minnesota

Monday at Scotiabank Arena, the Minnesota Wild jumped the Toronto Maple Leafs early and hung on for a 6 3 win, powered by Marcus Foligno's first NHL hat trick.

Joseph Woll wore five goals on 29 shots, that's a .828 save percentage, and he did not start the third period after Dennis Hildeby came in and turned aside all eight shots he faced.

The game got away fast, Toronto was chasing lanes and losing net front touches, and the Wild carried a 5 1 lead after two.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and added an assist, and two Minnesota power play goals plus a sloppy line change were exactly what Craig Berube pointed to afterward.

Woll didn't dodge it in the room, saying, «the result's not how I wanted it, Tomorrow's a new day, flush it and get back to work.»

That tone matters because this is still the same 27 year old, drafted in 2016 in the third round 62nd overall by Toronto, who has already shown he can steady a month when his tracking is clean.

The technical stuff is fixable, but it starts with the Leafs helping him, fewer back door looks, harder box outs, and less chaos when the puck swings from half wall to the slot.

Leafs fans are frustrated, not because goalies struggle sometimes, but because this one felt like every mistake turned into a red light.

Auston Matthews tried to pull them back with a goal and an assist, and his breakaway finish was his third goal in three games.

Matthews also hit 769 career points on the night, sliding past Borje Salming for fourth on the franchise list, a cool note that got buried under the mess.

John Tavares scored on the power play off a Matthew Knies feed, and Nicholas Robertson added Toronto's third, but the push arrived after the damage was already done.

For Minnesota, Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves, and Foligno's net front tips were the kind that make a goalie look wrong even when he reads it right.

Woll also gave Knies a shout for gutting through a nagging issue, and the bigger picture is the same, the schedule is tight with the Winter Olympics looming.

Toronto is now 24 17 8, and Minnesota skated out at 28 13 9, so there's no time for the Leafs to sit in their feelings.

Next up is Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, and if the Leafs clean up their details, this homestand can still flip fast in a hurry.

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