Three tips from Leafs-Wild: Woll’s worst start of the season, defense completely absent up front

Joseph Woll was chased out of the match after the second period, with Dennis Hildeby coming on in relief for the final frame. It was a largely listless game from the Maple Leafs, which could be a bad omen heading into a homestand that will likely dictate their prospects at the deadline.

Here are three takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Wild:

Joseph Woll has had his worst start to the season

It may be considered unfair to attack the goalkeeper when the defense is collapsing, but Joseph Woll made his worst start of the season. Woll didn’t get much support, but he was brought in to start the third period, and it wasn’t to send a message to the rest of the skaters.

Marcus Foligno tipped in a shot from Brock Faber to extend the Wild’s lead during the second period. It was a routine play and while changing direction can be tricky, there was no real speed on the shot either, and Woll certainly should have tracked the puck better.

Reading the puck from distance seemed to be a consistent problem for Woll on Monday. Foligno tapped in another point shot from Faber to give the Wild a 5-1 lead at the second intermission. And the lack of speed fooled Woll again.

Tarasenko’s goals were both the result of poor defensive play, but Woll certainly had to make some key stops and didn’t give the Leafs any courage on Monday.

“Obviously the last few games didn’t have the result I wanted, but I’m going to go to the drawing board, learn from it and tomorrow is a new day, flush it and get back to work,” Woll said after the game.

“I don’t think it was his night tonight, but I think that’s part of the team,” Matthew Knies said of Woll after the game. “We didn’t do well for him. A lot of the goals that came in were tipped pucks. Deflected pucks, rebounds, that’s common with the players here as well.”

We’re not putting the loss entirely on Woll, as there were several mistakes against an undermanned Wild team, but Woll certainly had to be better. He will likely get some rest, but could be in line to face the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

Brandon Carlo and the Leafs’ net front defense was completely absent

Simon Benoit took an unnecessary penalty against the run of play, and Minnesota capitalized. Vladimir Tarasenko opened the scoring after poor coverage by the Maple Leafs. The puck was returned to Quinn Hughes at the point, who found Kirill Kaprizov at the goal line. Kaprizov one-touched the puck to Ryan Hartman as he wrapped himself around Jake McCabe. Hartman then froze Brandon Carlo, who was still in the hole, and tapped the ball to Tarasenko for a 1-0 lead.

Foligno’s first two goals can also be seen as the function of poor net defense: Woll certainly had to be better, but the Maple Leafs allowed oncoming traffic without much resistance.

It wasn’t just the net defense either. Carlo was especially terrible during the rush. Hughes caught the Leafs asleep during the second period and set up Tarasenko alone for a 4-1 lead. There was a gap akin to a chasm between Carlo and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, as the Wild attacked the Maple Leafs with speed, and in stationary scenarios, without any pushback.

On Carlo’s next shift, he went down without warning and Vinnie Hinostroza shot through the post. Carlo and the Maple Leafs defense can go further and burn the tape.

Matthew Knies is fighting through a lingering injury, but needs more rest

Knies delivered a great pass to John Tavares during the first period on the power play, the highlight of the Leafs’ offensive performance Monday. He won puck battles, was appointed playmaker and was the best player in his line next to Matias Maccelli and John Tavares. Knies played the third-most minutes of all Leafs forwards, behind Matthews and Maccelli. It may be time for tax management.

“It’s one of those where the more you play, the more wear and tear it gets. It doesn’t really get better,” Knies said. “The Christmas break obviously helped a lot. It’s quite a tough schedule we have now, playing every other day. Recovery is quite important.”

“It will definitely help with rest,” Berube said after the game. “Right now he doesn’t have the luxury of rest. We’ve tried to keep him off the ice, even in competitive skating. I thought he fought hard tonight and did good things. He’s fighting through it, and that’s good to see.”