'It Was His Turn': Anthony Stolarz Is Starting Against Predators, The Maple Leafs' Road 'Plan' For Goaltending Rotation

The Toronto Maple Leafs are gearing up for their final home game of this four-game stand. They host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, looking to even up their record after winning one of the last three games.

With that, Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller revealed that Anthony Stolarz would get the start against the Predators, which will be his second start of the season so far.

This will be the 32-year-old's second-ever start against the Preds in his career, previously a 4-1 win and a .963 save percentage as a member of the Florida Panthers in 2023-24.

His last game was against the New York Islanders last Wednesday, and he came up with Toronto's first and only win of the campaign so far. He registered a .963 save percentage in what was the second night of a back-to-back.

This game against Nashville is separated from the team's last outing by two days, which was a Saturday night fixture against the Ottawa Senators (a 3-2 loss). Typically, the projected backup goaltender for a team plays in back-to-back situations. But in this instance, Hiller said the team has a plan for their goalie rotation.

"We have a bit of a plan, to be honest with you," Hiller said after Tuesday's morning skate. "So we have, we've kind of mapped things out, and not that that can't change, but it was his turn."

The Leafs' bench boss wouldn't get into detail about what his plan is in terms of his goaltender rotation

Sergei Bobrovsky, who took optional morning skate, opposed to Stolarz, will still be looking for his first win since joining the Maple Leafs this off-season. In his first two contests, he's averaged a .887 SP and a 3.06 goals-against average. His appearances against the Senators and Montreal Canadiens both ended in 3-2 defeats.

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