We’re now entering the final stretch of the 2024-25 regular season. And with the Stanley Cup playoffs less than three weeks away, the race for the Atlantic division title is as close as ever between the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
3rd star: Anthony Stolarz
Week 25 stats: 2 GP – 2-0-0 – 1.50 GAA – .945 SV%
Season stats: 29 GP – 16-8-3 – 2.35 GAA – .919 SV% – 1 SO
Since January 1st, the play of Anthony Stolarz and his tandem partner, Joseph Woll, hasn’t been the same as at the beginning of the season. Both goalies entered week 25 with save percentages barely over .900 during that time (Stolarz with a .901 and Woll with a .902), and with the number of games in the season starting to get smaller, the team needed their goalies to rebound with a busy schedule on tap.
Stolarz, who has been among the league leaders in save percentage all season, opened last week with a start against one of his former teams, the Philadelphia Flyers. The 31-year-old wasn’t tasked with much, making just 17 saves on 19 shots in a blowout win. But it helped him tack on some momentum for his next start.
Joseph Woll was in the net the following game to kick off the California road trip, meaning Stolarz was back between the pipes against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. With the team coming off a 6-5 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks in the previous games, a date with the Kings, who owned a record of 26-3-4 on home ice, was going to be a tough challenge for the Maple Leafs. Luckily, the New Jersey native helped backstop a 3-1 win after turning aside 35 of the 36 shots he faced. Suddenly, with two wins last week, Stolarz improved his save percentage since January 1 from .902 to .909.
2nd star: Mitch Marner
Week 25 stats: 4 GP – 1 G – 5 A – 6 PTS
Season stats: 73 GP – 23 G – 68 A – 91 PTS
Mitch Marner continues to inch closer to his first 100-point season after another good week of production. It may come as a surprise, but for those who don’t know, Marner has yet to reach 100 points despite recording three 90-point campaigns since 2018-19, including a 97 and 99-point season.
The main reason for this has been availability. The 27-year-old has missed a chunk of games every season since the 2019-20 campaign, aside from the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons. If it hadn’t been for missed time, Marner would’ve been hunting for his fourth 100-point campaign this season. In 2021-22, he recorded 97 points in 72 games, a 110-point pace over 82 games. The following season, 2022-23, he finished with 99 points in 80 games, a 101-point pace over 82 games. Last season, Marner had 85 points in just 69 games, another 101-point pace over 82 games.
That brings us to this season with the pending UFA entering week 25 with 85 points in 69 games, the same total he finished with last season. Luckily, he had another massive week, recording six points (one goal and five assists), helping him inch closer to that 100-point mark. He picked up those five assists in their first three games of the week, including a three-assist game, the fifth time he has done that this season, and capped the successful week off with a nifty breakaway goal against the Ducks for his 23rd of the season.
1st star: John Tavares
Week 25 stats: 4 GP – 5 G – 3 A – 8 PTS
Season stats: 67 GP – 35 G – 34 A – 69 PTS
When John Tavares inked his seven-year, $77 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018, the narrative surrounding this massive contract was the downfall of his production in the later years of the deal, specifically in years six and seven. Well, it’s safe to say that John Tavares has shut all of the haters and doubters up, at least temporarily, as he continues to have one of the best seasons of his career after another scorching hot week of production.
As mentioned numerous times this season, Tavares followed up his 36-goal, 80-point campaign in 2022-23 with a down year the following season, scoring just 29 goals and adding 36 assists for 65 points in 80 games. How has he followed up that production this season? He surpassed his 29 goals from last season in game 62 and is over a point per game with less than three weeks to go in the regular season.
That leads us to last week – a four-game week for Tavares to continue his dominance this season. He entered week 25 with 30 goals and 61 points in 63 games, and by the end of the week, the 34-year-old had recorded another 35-goal season and was flirting with 70 points with eight games to go. He opened the week with a four-point performance against the Flyers (two goals and two assists), continued his goal streak in San Jose while adding an assist, and scored two more against the Kings, including the game-winning goal. Unfortunately, he went pointless in their 3-2 win over the Ducks to close out their road trip, but it won’t take away the fact that he recorded an eight-point week, helping lead his team to a 3-0-1 record.
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