OTTAWA — Joseph Woll made 29 saves before exiting midway through the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 Thursday night.
Woll went down after reacting to a soft shot from Senators forward Drake Batherson midway through the third period.
After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Woll is going to “miss some time” and the team will determine the full extent of his injury when they return to Toronto
The 25-year-old netminder needed assistance to the team’s locker room and appeared unable to put any weight on his left leg.
Veteran goaltender Martin Jones, who was called up on an emergency basis with Ilya Samsonov dealing with an illness, came in to replace Woll.
Woll has been the Maple Leafs’ most consistent goaltender this season. He came into Thursday’s game with an 8-5-1 record, 2.82 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.
Toronto led 3-2 at the time, but a William Nylander goal with 6:57 remaining provided enough support for Toronto (13-6-4) to earn the victory.
Mitch Marner, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Leafs, while Martin Jones stopped 9-of-10 shots in relief.
Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa (10-11-0).
Anton Forsberg stopped 18 shots.
Jarnkrok gave Toronto a 3-1 edge 3:35 into the third period with a wrist shot. It was his sixth of the season and capped a run of three unanswered goals by the Leafs.
But under two minutes later, Bernard-Docker made it a one-score game with his first career NHL goal on a point shot.
Nylander then put the Leafs ahead 4-2 with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.
Once again, though, the Senators made it a one-goal game with Giroux scoring on a one-timer with 1:53 remaining.
However, Ottawa was unable to complete the comeback despite pulling Forsberg and having a power play for the final 50.3 seconds.
Trailing 1-0, Marner tied the game 1:42 into the second period on a near-identical play to the Senators’ opening goal.
Morgan Rielly sprung Marner open with a long pass and Marner wristed a shot past Forsberg stick side.
Kampf, with his first goal since Nov. 11th, put the Leafs ahead after poking it past Forsberg from in close with 2:20 left in the middle frame.
Norris opened the scoring with 26 seconds left in the opening period. Jakob Chychrun fed Norris a perfect stretch pass to break in alone and beat Woll.
INTERESTING STAT
Toronto entered Thursday’s game having picked up points in all but one game since its last meeting against Ottawa on Nov. 8.
NOTES
Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. The team has said it’s waiting for results from an MRI. ? Mark Kastelic practised for the first time since his injury Dec. 2. ? Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov did not dress for the game while he deals with an illness.
UP NEXT
Ottawa: Takes on the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night.
Toronto: Hosts the Nashville Predators Saturday night.
— With files from Sportsnet Staff
