The toughest game to win is the fourth one.
It’s the phrase we’ve heard time and again about the Toronto Maple Leafs since they opened the Battle of Ontario with three wins to take the dominant series lead. Now with losses in Games 4 and 5, it’s ringing all too true as the series shifts back to the nation’s capital where the Ottawa Senators will look to force Game 7.
Goaltender Anthony Stolarz had the phrase on the ready as he spoke to media Tuesday night, following the Leafs 4-0 loss to the Senators. And despite not getting that fourth result they wanted, Stolarz credited his team’s game and said there may have just been a bit of bad luck.
“It was a good effort by us,” Stolarz said. “They capitalized on two chances and we seemed a little snakebitten getting pucks by Linus tonight.”
Through the first three games of the series, Stolarz undoubtedly outplayed Ullmark, who conceded 12 goals over that span. Since the Senators were pushed to the brink of elimination, Ullmark has locked in and found his game, earning his first career playoff shutout on Tuesday. Stolarz meanwhile allowed two goals on 17 shots against him tonight.
Thomas Chabot opened the scoring Tuesday, firing a shot from the blue line through a screen on Stolarz, in not dissimilar fashion to Jake Sanderson’s OT winner from Game 5. Asked about what he saw on Chabot’s goal, Toronto’s netminder was pretty frank.
“Not much,” Stolarz said. “There’s a number of bodies and I think I got a little piece of it. It’s just one you gotta try to keep fighting for sightline and making the save.”
While Stolarz hasn’t played poorly over the last two games, it’s those shots from the blue line that have seemed to trip him up the most. Asked if he’s concerned about his recent track record in facing those, he said that it’s just how it goes in the postseason.
“Look at that Florida game, what, two or three goals from the blue line, I mean that’s playoff hockey right there,” Stolarz said. “It just comes down to commitment, blocking shots, fighting through screens. Right now they’re doing those little things to get there, so it’s gonna be up to us to try to battle through that and try to do the same thing to their goalie as well.”
The 31-year-old’s performance is sure to be put under a microscope headed to Game 6, especially with a competent Joseph Woll sitting on the bench waiting his turn. At the same time, with no goal support from his team tonight, you can hardly blame the loss on Stolarz. It’s up to Berube to decide what will be best for his group when they take on Ottawa again in two days time.
