The Toronto Maple Leafs must look past the incidents of Game 1 if they are going to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. Fans would prefer that a gallows be erected for Panthers forward Sam Bennett after he sideswiped Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz, but the NHL Department of Player Safety did not believe the elbow to the head was worth of a fine, let alone a suspension.
If the Leafs are to be heading to Florida holding home-ice advantage, they must not be fixated on revenge, but on winning the game and playing the way they did in the opening 40 minutes, when they held a commanding 4-1 lead. Toronto was obviously in shock at the sight of Stolarz vomiting on the bench and Joseph Woll replacing him. Woll was solid in the middle frame, but allowed three goals in the third that nearly cost them the game, as the Leafs held on for a 5-4 victory.
Woll Starts, Stolarz Not At Morning Skate
Woll faced 20 shots in the second half of Game 1 after coming in cold, but the expectation is that the 26-year-old will be more prepared to play at a higher level, as he has in the last two playoffs against the Panthers and Bruins.
“(Joseph) is very calm. He just tries to trust his game,” Leafs center John Tavares said on Wednesday. “He’s got some experience coming into the middle of a series. He can rely on that experience to get through that, you get a feel of what that’s like. We have all the faith in him.”
In spite of all the chatter that Stolarz was in good spirits on Tuesday, that did not mean that he would be anywhere close to being ready to play, and he was not on the ice at Scotiabank Arena for the morning skate.
“He’s recovering, He’s doing well,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Wednesday morning. “He’s fine.
And The Backup Is…….
It is nice when you have a goalie in your system that won two Stanley Cups, so it was not a surprise the Leafs had three goalies (Woll, Dennis Hildeby, and Matt Murray) on the ice at the morning skate and that the veteran Murray would be the backup on Wednesday. The oft-injured 30-year-old was load managed with the AHL Marlies coming off bilateral hip surgery, but had a spectacular 1.72 GAA and .934 save% % in 21 games and a 42-save performance in an overtime playoff loss to Cleveland late last month.
Ekblad Back After Suspension
Other than the changes in goal, the Leafs are not changing a thing for Game 2, with the same line combinations and defensive pairings as Game 1. Toronto will have to be aware of the mismatch they have with the Panthers third line of Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Brad Marchand, who factored in on two Florida goals in the third period of Game 1.
The Panthers will get back defenseman Aaron Ekblad after he served a two-game suspension for elbowing Tampa’s Brandon Hagel in Game 4 of the series with the Lightning. It is likely that Ekblad will replace Uvis Balinskis in the lineup.
