Stolaz made 10 of his 30 saves in the first period, helping the Maple Leafs overcome another slow start to help steer his club to a point in the standings.
BOSTON — It seemed like it could be another one of those games.
In their 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs spent most of the first 20 minutes pinned in their own zone. Unlike their previous lackluster showings against the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues, this time, they had Anthony Stolarz in net. The goaltender came up big, stopping all 10 shots to keep the score at 0-0.
“They came hard in the first, and I thought we didn’t break,” said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube. “We hung in there and weathered the storm, and he (Stolarz) made some good saves, too.”
The Leafs started finding their rhythm in the second period, which might have been a different story if Stolarz had allowed an early goal or two.
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Earlier in the week, Dennis Hildeby had allowed two goals that slipped through him in the first period of the Leafs’ 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets. Joseph Woll, returning from a groin injury, let in two goals early in his season debut against the Blues.
Another rocky first period could have spelled disaster for a team that was booed off the ice after their last home game.
But Stolarz, who has been solid, helped pull them out of a freefall.
“Stolie was huge for us tonight,” said Auston Matthews. “Those first 10 minutes, obviously, you’d like to be on the right side of the puck and bounces and play in their zone. But they came out really, really strong, really fast. And, you know, we needed to kind of catch up to speed.”
Signed to a two-year, $5 million contract by the Leafs this summer, the 30-year-old goalie saw an opportunity to play more than his career-high 28 games in a season. Yet, the Leafs were cautious about overextending him, allowing five days between starts
Although the game wasn’t Stolarz’s best of the season—he admitted he’d like to have Mark Kastelic’s goal, which put Boston up 3-2, back.
“It took a half-second glance to see where that guy was, and he threw it back out front. So, it’s a quick game, and you have to be ready for anything,” Stolarz said. “But, I mean, other than that, I thought, you know, my reads were good. My pucks were sticking to me, and I thought my puck handling was pretty good as well.”
Despite missing out on a 5-on-3 opportunity, the Leafs needed a momentum shift after Boston’s strong start at even strength in the opening period.
Matthews forced overtime to help the Leafs salvage a point and end the game on a better note, but without Stolarz in net, the outcome might have been very different.
He’s Toronto’s top-performing goaltender—and, without question, their starter.