Leafs' Joseph Woll makes feelings known about his performance in tough loss to Sharks

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll took responsibility for his performance in his team’s 6-5 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Despite some literal last-minute heroics from Leafs forwards William Nylander and John Tavares to tie the game in regulation time, the Leafs fell in the shootout.

Woll made 30 saves on the night but had a horror moment when he saved Sharks player William Eklund’s dump-in only to see his attempted clearance rebound off Eklund’s skate through the five-hole into the net.

On Friday, Leafs Latest posted excerpts from an interview with Woll on X (formerly Twitter).

“I don’t think it was my best performance. And I know that. The important thing is to have a short memory, look back, find things, and I will do that,” Woll said. ”I will do the work of making sure I’m learning from the experience as best I can and staying in my processes.”

There were some positives for the Leafs, who slipped to second in the Atlantic Division as a result of the loss. Captain Auston Matthews scored a goal and had an assist, while new acquisition Scott Laughton broke his duck for the Leafs with a goal as well.

"It was nice for my own confidence," Laughton said via NHL.com. "It was nice to get one, for sure, but it would've been a lot nicer to get a win and not score."

Joseph Woll opens up about dreadful William Eklund deflected goal

Joseph Woll addressed the unfortunate incident of Eklund’s deflected goal, which gave the San Jose Sharks a 4-2 lead at 13:18 in the second period.

“I’m not too sure. Just a bad play,” Woll said. “Sometimes, you make bad plays. I think I was looking up ice, and my brain turned off for a second. It’s unfortunate. Once something like that happens, you have to do your best to put it behind you. There’s no point in lingering on it.”

Joseph Woll also talked about the Leafs’ comeback in regulation and how he felt watching it from the sidelines:

“From a team standpoint, I thought it was pretty awesome for the guys to come back and score two late ones like that. It was cool to see them pick up the slack for me a little bit."

The goalie had been benched for a man advantage in the final minute when the final tying goals were scored.