Leafs place Woll on IR with lower-body injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs placed goaltender Joseph Woll on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday.

The move is retroactive to Dec. 4, when he sustained a lower-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes and didn't return for the third period.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube is optimistic Woll will miss just one week, he told reporters Saturday, including Postmedia's Lance Hornby.

Artur Akhtyamov was recalled from the AHL's Toronto Marlies and will back up Dennis Hildeby for Saturday's matchup versus the Montreal Canadiens, according to Dave McCarthy of NHL.com.

Woll has a 4-3-1 record to go along with a .923 save percentage this season. The 27-year-old missed the first month of the campaign for personal reasons.

The Leafs have won three straight games and sit four points back of the East's second wild-card seed entering Saturday's play.