Former Florida Panthers and current Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz joined the Leafs Morning Take podcast and was asked about the injury he suffered as a result of head contact from Sam Bennett.
In the opening game of Round 2, Bennett's elbow collided with Stolarz's head, stirring up plenty of controversy when Stolarz was forced to leave the game and vomited at the Leafs' bench. Stolarz would not return to the game or for the rest of the series, which only increased the anger and animosity Leafs fans had towards Bennett.
When asked by The Leafs Nation's Nick Alberga and former NHL enforcer Jay Rosehill about the incident, Stolarz claimed it was an "unfortunate incident."
“Just an unfortunate incident there. I got hit in the head, and probably about 5–10 minutes after, I started feeling a little woozy and dizzy," said the 31-year-old. "I thought it was best for myself and the team to take the right precautions to make sure everything was alright. Things took a little while to get back, but right before Game 6 and Game 7, I started feeling like myself again."
The Leafs went on to close out Game 1 without Stolarz and took Game 2 at home as well. The Leafs did feel the effect of not having Stolarz. Joseph Woll came into the series cold, and although he did an adamant job, he wasn't able to match the level in which Stolarz was playing at.
"I backed up in Game 7, and now everything’s good," said the one-time Panther. "I was able to train, able to skate, and I was on the ice probably 15–20 times this summer with my goalie coach. I’ve had no symptoms, everything was good, and I was able to go full throttle this summer.”
Stolarz's debut season with the Leafs was stellar. In 34 games, he posted a .926 save percentage and a 2.14 goals against average, picking up 21 wins. Stolarz dealt with a knee injury during the regular season, which held him out of the lineup for quite some time.
In his lone season with the Panthers, Stolarz served as the backup netminder, recording a .925 SP and a 2.03 GAA in 27 games.
Stolarz has been hampered by injuries throughout his career, but now in Toronto, he is hoping to stay healthy and form a duo with Woll. When healthy, the pair form one of the best tandems in the league as the 27-year-old Woll has a .910 SP in 78 career games.
Stolarz and the Leafs will attempt to seek revenge against the Panthers when the teams first meet on Dec. 2.
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