Stolarz's last start, last Friday against Vegas, saw him allow five goals on 30 shots.
For the second time since re-entering the fold, Anthony Stolarz will start in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 32-year-old gets the net on Thursday night against the Seattle Kraken. Stolarz is coming off a five-goals-against performance versus the Vegas Golden Knights last Friday, his first match back since returning from a nerve injury that forced him to miss over two months.
"When you look at him and the game and the tape, he tried to do way too much (against Vegas)," said head coach Craig Berube on Thursday after Toronto's morning skate in Seattle.
"It's understandable being out that long and wanting to help your team, but he just needs to do what he's best at and focus on that. Sometimes you come back and you're a little too eager, and you want to do too much, and we felt he was just kind of all over the place."
Stolarz was one of the league's best goaltenders last season, with a .926 save percentage in 34 games.
This year, however, has been quite different for the goaltender. Things haven't come as easily as he'd hoped.
At the beginning of the season, Stolarz was thrust into more of a number-one goalie role while Joseph Woll was on a personal leave from the team.
Stolarz started in 13 of Toronto's first 17 games of the season — posting a 6-6-1 record and an .884 save percentage — before suffering a nerve injury against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 11.
As Berube mentioned, he wants Stolarz to get back to basics — return to what made him successful last season: Using his 6-foot-6 frame to his advantage.
"Just big in net and let things come to him. (Be) patient in net. He's been really good at that, especially going back to last year," Berube said. "Very patient in net, taking on the shooter and just doing his job, but being big in net. Obviously, puck play, he's good at playing the puck, too. So just those types of things, just settle down and do your job."
Stolarz was in the net when the Kraken rolled into Scotiabank Arena in October. The Maple Leafs fell 4-3 in overtime, with Stolarz stopping 24 of 28 shots against.
Let's see if there'll be a different result on Thursday night.