Stolarz might've been fiery on Saturday night after an overtime loss to the Kraken, but he was the completely different two days later.
Anthony Stolarz and the Toronto Maple Leafs have moved on from a fervent Saturday night.
Following Toronto's overtime loss against the Seattle Kraken, a fiery Stolarz stepped in front of the cameras inside the dressing room and preached his opinion on the game. He voiced his displeasure with being run by Mason Marchment, before discussing coverage on the overtime goal.
Despite Stolarz not mentioning William Nylander by name, anyone who watched the game could put two and two together. Josh Mahura received the puck in the neutral zone before blowing by Nylander and beating Stolarz on the breakaway.
"Overtime, you can't let someone beat you up the ice there and get a clear cut break away," he said. "I mean, minute left, you want to be on the ice in that situation, you got to work hard. Got to work back and it costs us a point there."
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Stolarz didn't mince his words. He wanted everyone to hear his opinion on what had happened not even 15 minutes before he excited the ice. Less than 48 hours later, the Maple Leafs goaltender had a bit of a different outlook on the overtime goal.
The 31-year-old revealed he and Nylander talked it out, like any good teammates would.
"We had a conversation and he's someone I admire and someone I respect deeply," Stolarz said on Monday after practice. "There's a reason he's been in this league for so long. He's a hell of a player and he pushes me and I push him...
"Like I said, we're a family in here and we're looking to push each other and get to our ultimate goal at the end of the day."
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Stolarz made 28 saves on 29 shots — including one with no mask — in Toronto's 2-1 overtime win over the Rangers.
Even with Stolarz making up Nylander, he still won't shy away from being vocal going forward.
"I'm a vocal guy and I'm going to continue to be a vocal guy. I'm a competitor. It's the reason I've gotten to this point in my career. It's the hardest league to make. For me, it's just battling and not taking it for granted."
Stolarz has two wins and an .897 save percentage through his first five games of the season. He's played well when Toronto has needed him. However, after a conversation with Nylander, and likely the entire group, Stolarz acknowledged he could've been better on the overtime goal, too.
"I get paid to stop the puck too. At the end of the day, it's on me as well. For me, it's a simple job, get in front of the puck and stop it," Stolarz said.
"There's the instances where as a goalie you've got to come up big. Right there was a prime example. For me going forward, my main focus is going out there, stopping the puck, giving this team a chance to compete every night. I think the guys are looking forward to getting out there tomorrow."
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