The Toronto Maple Leafs went from pillar to post with Anthony Stolarz in their series victory over the Ottawa Senators. The veteran netminder performed well in his first playoff starts. Still, it is yet to be determined whether he can perform at the higher level necessary to beat his former club, the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Stolarz had a 4-2 record, 2.21 GAA, but only a .901 save% % because of a few instances where he allowed key goals in spite of facing very few shots. In the third period of Game 2, when he allowed Adam Gaudette’s tying goal on his first shot faced, or David Perron’s tying goal on one of three shots in the third period of the Game 4 OT loss.
Leafs head coach Craig Berube will go with Stolarz to start the series against the Panthers, but there has to be a question whether he will stick with the veteran no matter what, or be open to going to Joseph Woll at some point. Florida bested Stolarz in the first two meetings between the two clubs, and he was especially bad in late November, when the big goalie allowed four goals on 23 shots in a 5-1 loss in Sunrise. His last outing against the Panthers was his best, with 29 saves in a 3-2 victory that helped the Leafs win the Atlantic Division.
“(I’m definitely close) with (Matthew) Tkachuk, (Sam) Reinhart, (Aaron) Ekblad, I was pretty much close with a lot of guys there, it was a pretty tight knit group,” Stolarz said on Sunday. “It’s going to be exciting. We are in the second round, it doesn’t matter who you face, you’re going to want to go out there and outduel them.”
Woll played Florida only once this season (allowing only two goals on 36 shots in a 3-1 loss on April 13), but he has history against the Panthers in the playoffs, where he relieved an injured Ilya Samsonov and won the Leafs only game in the five-game 2023 second-round loss. Toronto should not be caught by surprise by what the Panthers are going to do, not only because they have three former Panthers in Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Steven Lorentz, but because they know what they are all about and what it will take for them to beat them.
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Leafs forward Mitch Marner was absent from practice on Sunday, but for a very good reason. He and his wife, Stephanie, welcomed the arrival of a baby boy this morning. Marner is expected back for the morning skate on Monday in preparation for Game 1 against the Panthers.
