Leafs Coach Craig Berube Blasts Joseph Woll For Horrendous Effort In San Jose

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a glorious opportunity to stake their claim to the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a win on the road against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Unfortunately, similarly to their first encounter, the Leafs lost in a shootout.

Unlike their first meeting, the Maple Leafs' goaltending disappointed fans, with a dismal performance from Joseph Woll. The youngster looked uncomfortable all night and ended up allowing 5 goals on 35 shots, including a backbreaking goal in the second period that followed a stick handling gaffe from his own crease.

The Maple Leafs didn't do themselves any favours either with a run to the penalty box near the end of the second period and into the start of the third period, but the top guns proved their mettle late in the game when they scored 2 goals to tie things up in the final minute.

Needless to say, head coach Craig Berube was extremely unhappy with his team's performance, but perhaps no other player underwhelmed him more so than Joseph Woll.

On top of the fact that he was unhappy with Woll's performance, he also didn't make the 26-year-old available to the media post-game.

It was a tough night for Woll, but he had to do a better job, especially against an opponent like the Sharks. He was out of position on the first and fifth goals, was beaten too easily off the rush on the second and third goals, and made a horrible decision with the puck on the fourth goal.

Woll's last two games have proven very costly with the Leafs blowing a 2-goal lead to 30th ranked Nashville and then finding a way to lose to the 32nd ranked Sharks. He's allowed 9 goals on 66 shots in those two games and it's fair to say that his starting role for the playoffs could be slipping away.

The Leafs will wake up in the morning with sole possession of first place in the division but are only 1 point up on both Florida and Tampa Bay with the former having a game in hand, which comes later tonight when they host the Utah Hockey Club on their second of night of a back to back set.