Anthony Stolarz has swiftly climbed to the top of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltending depth chart, boasting an impressive .964 save percentage over his last three starts. He’s proving he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the net—even if it means losing his stick or, in this case, his blocker.
“I was telling Stolie he doesn’t really need much equipment, so he’s big enough clearly,”
The Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Friday. Down by a goal in the third period, the Red Wings frantically scrambled around the net, seemingly poised to tie the game when, somehow, Stolarz emerged from the pile with the puck in his right hand.
“That’s kind of what it takes, right?” Stolarz said with a smile after the game. “So late in the game like that, I kind of got a lot of position. I think (Lukas) Raymond was all alone in front there, and the puck went to the other side, and it kind of hit my stick, and it just kind of hit my pad, and it was just kind of scramble mode from there.
“I think my blocker kind of got caught up on somebody’s skate or stick, and I kind of just saw the puck kind of sitting there and just grabbed it and tried to get it out of there as quick as I could to avoid injury there.”
Stolarz’s teammates were in disbelief, as the TSN broadcast showed him laughing with Joseph Woll on the bench about the play.
Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner was amazed Stolarz emerged unscathed.
“It was kind of just a bit of a dog pile in there, and it was nice to see him come out with the puck in his hand and still all five fingers,” Marner said.
Following the play, Stolarz had a lengthy conversation with referee Ghislain Hebert.
“I kind of just asked him what the rule is just in terms of would he be able to blow it and obviously there’s an imminent scoring chance. So he said ‘no,’ and I think that’s kind of why there was no other way for me to get the puck,” Stolarz explained. “But he kind of just told me if the puck went to the corner that he would have blown it dead. So I appreciate him kind of just giving me an explanation, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
Having signed a two-year, $5 million contract, Stolarz has improved to 6-2-2 this season with a .930 save percentage, solidifying his role as the team’s go-to option in net.
