"Forgive Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Anthony Stolarz if he wants a mulligan. Stolarz was upset with the lack of effort on a backchecking attempt from Leafs' star William Nylander on the game-winning overtime goal. That play was the final straw after the Maple Leafs' goalie had been crashed into by the Kraken's Mason Marchment earlier in the game, with nary a response from his teammates."
"The continued pattern of Leaf opponents bowling over the netminder had started with a playoff-ending hit to the head from the Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett last spring. The abuse from opposing forwards continued through much of the early portion of the 2025-26 schedule. Being "outworked", "playing catch in the yard" (referencing the ease of making saves for opposition goalies), and "enough is enough" were some of the highlights from Stolarz's postgame call-out."
"The Leafs recent loss to the Boston Bruins saw Stolarz leave after the first period with an upper-body injury. By the end of the first period, the Maple Leafs trailed 3-1 and Stolarz had let in two very questionable goals. A soft wrist shot from just inside the blue line, when he was down early, and a five-hole shot from ex-Leaf Alex Steeves put the Leafs in a hole they could not recover from."
Anthony Stolarz entered the season after a strong first year in Toronto and a new long-term contract extension. He openly criticized teammates following an overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken, citing a missed backcheck by William Nylander and prior physical contact from Mason Marchment. A pattern of opponents bowling over the goalie dates to a playoff hit to the head from Sam Bennett last spring and continued into early 2025-26. Stolarz used phrases like "outworked," "playing catch in the yard," and "enough is enough." Fans and some management initially welcomed the call-out, but team results and Stolarz's form have since deteriorated.
Read at Editor In Leaf
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]