Apr 24, 2025; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz (41) looks up the ice in game three of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
The NHL is reportedly investigating an incident between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs that occurred before Game 3.
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, there were "allegations of pregame shenanigans" in warmups, and it's still undecided whether the NHL will discipline players for the incident.
Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch followed up on Dreger's tweet, confirming that Senators players were lobbing pucks into the Maple Leafs' end during warmups. "Found it odd and didn't think anything of it at the time," Garrioch added.
Dreger then said his source indicated that this was the incident in question, and that Senators players were shooting pucks at Stolarz during warmups. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman also reported that the NHL is reviewing an incident in which Nick Cousins fires a puck at Stolarz in warmup.
It's worth noting that Cousins and Stolarz were a part of the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup-winning team last season.
The Senators lost to the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime on Friday and now enter a pivotal point in the series: trying to stave off a Toronto sweep. The last time the Maple Leafs swept a team in the playoffs was in 2001, against Ottawa.
Stolarz has been the better goalie of the series, winning all three games and sporting a .926 save percentage in that span. The 31-year-old hasn't lost a game since Mar. 15 against Ottawa, 12 games ago.
The Senators have been trying to get under Stolarz's skin throughout this series. It began with Ridly Greig sliding into the goaltender in Game 1 before the two got penalties in Game 2 after Stolarz chopped and got physical with Greig.
"It was just caught up in the heat of the battle. Just one of those things that, it didn’t matter. I didn’t even know who it was," Stolarz said after Game 2. "It’s just one of those, you’re in the heat of the moment, and it is what it is."
In the second period of Game 3, Stolarz and Shane Pinto got into it after Pinto nudged the puck away from the goaltender's stick after a whistle. The ref pulled Pinto away with Stolarz smiling on.
"Yeah, I mean, I just stay out of it. I kind of talked to the refs a little bit tonight and just said, 'Watch my back and I’ll behave.'" Stolarz said after Game 3 on Thursday. "Like I said, they’re going to try to come to the net. They got some big guys. It’s just up to me to just fight through traffic, find that puck and smother it."
After contributing to Toronto's Game 2 overtime-winner, Simon Benoit scored in overtime Thursday to send the Maple Leafs out of the Canadian Tire Centre with a 3-0 series lead.
Ottawa now has its back against the wall. And the Maple Leafs have their toughest task yet: ending the Senators' season.
"It’s the hardest thing in the NHL to end a team’s season. When it comes to overtime like that, critical moments, it just takes a bounce," Matthew Knies said.
"You knew it was going to be a rebound or a chaos in front of the net kind of goal. I think that’s what we got. We just figured it out and played simple and played hard and we came out with the win."
