The Toronto Maple Leafs officially placed Joseph Woll on injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury, and in response brought up goaltender Artur Akhtyamov from the Marlies. The move is retroactive to Dec. 4, but it doesn’t soften the blow: Woll is out, and the Leafs suddenly have a major problem in net.
Woll left Thursday’s 5–1 win over Carolina after making a second-period save that clearly didn’t sit right. He never returned for the third, and now the timeline becomes a waiting game. What makes this tougher is how much the Leafs have leaned on him lately.