Joseph Woll earns Leafs a point in shootout loss to Sabres

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BUFFALO — Joseph Woll isn’t playing out the string.

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As the Maple Leafs meander their way to the finish line in this 2025-26 season of failure, the 27-year-old is doing more than his part to ensure the final few weeks aren’t without purpose.

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On Saturday night at the KeyBank Center against the Buffalo Sabres, Woll made 30 saves before Jack Quinn scored the deciding goal in a shootout to give Buffalo a 3-2 victory.

A glove save by Woll on Josh Norris in overtime was his best of the evening.

It was Woll’s third consecutive start.

“Looking at his game, he’s been sharp,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said of Woll in the morning. “I’ve liked his game. I just want to see him play some games in a row here and see where he’s at. I think it’s a good time to do that.”

The Leafs had some concern regarding travel to St. Paul, Minn., for their game on Sunday night against the Minnesota Wild, as the Twin Cities area in Minnesota fell under a blizzard warning on Saturday and into Sunday.

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The Leafs initially demonstrated passion and had some hustle in their first game after captain Auston Matthews was sidelined for the remainder of the season after he was hit by Anaheim’s Radko Gudas on Thursday.

But the energy petered out and they had just two shots on goal in the third period, tying their lowest shot total in any period this season.

And there was a crowd shift with the Sabres likely going to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2011. The Leafs had their usual fans in the stands, but the Sabres support was louder than it has been for the majority of recent Leafs visits.

After each team scored in the first period, the clubs again traded goals in the second to sit at 2-2 following 40 minutes.

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Playing in his 800th NHL game, Max Domi scored his 10th goal of 2025-26 at the 53-second mark of the second period to put the Leafs up 2-1. William Nylander showed some patience to register his 40th assist, waiting out Buffalo defenceman Rasmus Dahlin to feed Domi for an open-net goal.

Domi sits 220 games behind his dad Tie, who ended his NHL career after the 2005-06 season with 1,020 games played.

Quinn tied the game at 11:21 as Michael Pezzetta served a slashing minor, firing a Noah Ostlund pass into the net before Woll could get across.

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The Sabres opened the scoring two minutes into the game on the first shot for either side when Owen Power had an open lane and his shot eluded Woll high on the blocker side.

Dakota Joshua beat goalie Alex Lyon at 6:09 thanks to a good Leafs forecheck. Two minutes later, Joshua fought Luke Schenn to get to within an assist of recording a Gordie Howe hat trick.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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