Amid Concerning Recent Struggles, Jim Hiller And Maple Leafs 'Haven't Decided' On Starting Goaltender Against Oilers

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hit an all-time low at this point in the season. Coming off a 5-2 defeat to the Minnesota Wild, Toronto has lost five straight games at home, and all in regulation. That's the first time that's happened since the 1990-91 season.

Furthermore, the team has dropped seven of their last eight games, resulting in an 8-11-2 record in 21 outings. That gives them 18 points, six points away from the Florida Panthers, who hold onto the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Maple Leafs' next contest won't get any easier as the Edmonton Oilers will be Toronto's last opponent on this six-game homestand on Saturday. And with that, Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said he hasn't decided who will start in that game.

Edmonton is third in the NHL and first in the Pacific Division, led by former Maple Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock. Also, the league's top two scorers belong to the Oilers (Connor McDavid with 49 points and Leon Draisaitl with 37 points in 20 appearances each. And not far behind those two is defenseman Evan Bouchard, leading all blueliners with 33 points.

Toronto has already faced Edmonton this season, and it was likely their best performance of the season to date, winning 7-2 on the road. 

Anthony Stolarz was the goaltender for the Maple Leafs in that contest, but it's still to be determined if he'll get another crack at them.

"We're gonna have to kind of repeat that and play that same style," Stolarz said of the Oilers matchup after Thursday's loss. "You got the best player in the world and a guy who's not too far behind. And you look over the past few games too, Jarry's been playing extremely well. So we're going to have to get to the cage on him and make it tough for him. Take what we did last time in Edmonton, and look at some video from that game, and just try to regroup and give a performance like that."

Stolarz was in the crease for the Leafs on Thursday against the Wild. He made 21 saves on 25 shots, earning himself an .840 save percentage, and his record turns to 5-3-0 this season. In total, he has a .900 SP and a 2.90 goals-against average in his eight appearances.

The 32-year-old has never featured in consecutive games for the Maple Leafs this season. Hiller revealed early in the campaign that he and his staff have a plan for the goaltending rotation, so for the bench boss to say they "haven't decided yet" is interesting.

The plan so far appears to have Sergei Bobrovsky start the majority of games as the team's starting goaltender, with Stolarz playing about once a week, with the two additional back-to-back situations to this point.

Given the pattern, Bobrovsky making his 14th start of the season on Saturday seems likely. The 38-year-old has a 3-8-2 record, while registering an .881 SP and a 3.47 GAA.

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