Maple Leafs Make Crucial Goalie Decision Ahead of Game 2 vs. Panthers

As Game 2 kicks off between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night, the question surrounding who the Leafs starting goalie will be is one that can only be answered by the head coach.

While we can understand that Anthony Stolarz isn't going to be starting, they still had a decision to make regarding who should take his place.

Joseph Woll seemed the obvious choice, but Matt Murray is also there, with a great track record to make sure Toronto finds as much success as possible.

So with that being said, who was going to lineup between the pipes with Stolarz out? The decision was that Stolarz is resting, Woll gets the start, and Matt Murray will serve as a very respectable backup.

It's a positive sign that Toronto is valuing the health of their players over their production (unlike the NHL seems to a lot of the time) and we can only hope that Stolarz is healthy enough to contribute later on in Games 5 or 6 (if it comes to that).

It's not like Woll can't handle the pressure, as he was the one who basically ensured Toronto made it to seven games last season against Boston, and if he hadn't gotten hurt in the dying seconds, could have led them through.

His postseason record in his young career is only 4-2-0 but he has a stellar 2.12 GAA and .924 SV%; numbers skewed down even more since coming in for Stolarz. He has been great so far, and Toronto will need him to be even better.

Florida won't lie down for anyone, especially the Maple Leafs. They're going to agitate and infuriate everyone and goad them into mistakes, which can't happen at any point.

If they go after Woll then Toronto needs to set the tone right back. Does that mean taking a headshot at Sergei Bobrovsky?

Of course not, but it does mean they can crash the net a little bit more and try and create a bit more of that 'incidental contact' Florida loves to preach about.

But for now, the decision to give Woll the start is no doubt the correct one, as he earned it not only with his regular season performance, but his track record.

If anyone can get the Maple Leafs to 2-0 in the series it's him, but if he falters he has some pretty good backup just in case.