Three Toronto Maple Leafs will return to Florida on Wednesday, in hopes of earning a win against their former team, along with their Stanley Cup rings.
Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz are set to step foot in Sunrise, Florida on Wednesday evening, facing their team for the first time since winning the hockey's ultimate prize in June.
"To be honest, it's just another game. At the end of the day, it's a division game, so they're all big, and, you know, four-point swing. So we're going to want to keep this momentum that we've had the last couple games going," said Stolarz, hiding any emotion he could have, on Tuesday.
"I mean, we know that they're a very good team, a hard forward-checking team, and they play hard at both ends of the ice, so we're just going to have to match their intensity."
The three former Panthers have had strong seasons as we hit the quarter-point in the year.
Lorentz has been a cornerstone on Toronto's fourth line, appearing in all 21 of the team's games, and scoring three goals and one assist, already bettering his goal total from last season.
Ekman-Larsson has played most of his minutes in the Maple Leafs' top four on defense, averaging 21:02 of ice time and putting up one goal and seven assists through 21 games.
Stolarz has been as consistent as it gets with goaltending in the NHL, winning seven of 12 games this season with a .927 save percentage.
All three players are set to get their Stanley Cup rings ahead of Toronto's morning skate.
"Yeah, it's exciting, you know, something that, you know, doesn't happen every day," said Stolarz, "It's going to be something that, hopefully, I keep in my family for generations here."
The trio will likely also get a video tribute later in the day inside Amerant Bank Arena during the first TV timeout. But it'll be an entire day that Lorentz, Ekman-Larsson, and Stolarz won't ever forget.
"Yeah, I mean, I get to share this experience with Lars and Stevie as well. So, with the year we had last year, it's going to mean a lot," Stolarz said. "I was appreciative of that organization and everything they did for me, and it's going to be an exciting time for sure."
