The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators will face each other in the second of a home-and-home preseason series at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday, but with two vastly different lineups that the rosters that took to the ice on Sunday, in the Leafs 4-3 victory in Kanata, ON. The contest will feature the debut of wingers Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua, and first-rounders Easton Cowan and Ben Danford.
Other than Danford, the Leafs defensive corps is what is expected to be their starting six for the regular season, with the pairings of Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev, and Danford playing with veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Up front, only three forwards will play in their second game of the pre-season: Cowan, center Luke Haymes, and winger Nick Robertson, who is battling for a depth spot on the roster.
The goaltending duties will be split between Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov, marking the second game that neither of last season’s starters (Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll) have dressed. Stolarz practiced with the non-game day group at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday morning, along with center Nicolas Roy, amongst a group of players mostly destined for the American Hockey League.
Leafs GM Brad Treliving spoke to the media on Tuesday and indicated that Woll is taking a leave of absence from the team to attend to a personal family member. A statement later indicated that the club would not provide any further information at this point in time, but Treliving did indicate that the reason for the absence was not substance-related in nature.
Woll, 26, played 42 games for the Leafs last season, with a 27-14-1 record, 2.73 GAA, and .909 save percentage. With the duration of the absence unknown, it leaves Toronto with third-year pro Hildeby as the primary backup to Stolarz.
Home › Forums › Woll Taking Leave Of Absence; Leafs-Sens