Stolarz allowed one goal on eight shots before leaving the game after the first period on Thursday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' injury woes continued on Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks. This time, however, instead of a skater suffering an ailment, it was one of the league's best goaltenders: Anthony Stolarz.
The 30-year-old left the game with a lower-body injury after making seven of eight stops in the first period. It's unknown when Stolarz's injury occurred, however, he stood up awkwardly after Anaheim scored their first goal.
"We'll know more [about the injury] tomorrow," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after Toronto's 3-2 victory over the Ducks. "Lower body right now."
Joseph Woll learned shortly after the first period that he'd be coming into the Maple Leafs' net. He finished the game with the win after stopping 19 of 20 shots on goal from Anaheim.
"It's kind of mixed emotions. I'm obviously sad for him. I don't want him to get hurt," Woll said following the game. "And then at the same time, I got a job to do and you kind of have to trigger that on. I hope he's alright and hopefully it's nothing too bad."
Woll received the heads-up from Stolarz that he could be coming out of the game. The 26-year-old "mentally" prepared throughout the first intermission that he'd be coming into the game.
Woll secured his eighth win through 11 games and now has a .921 save percentage with the Maple Leafs this season.
"That's definitely not an easy position to be in. I've never experienced it, obviously," said Max Pacioretty, who had two goals and an assist on Thursday. "But they always, always talk about how that's a tough situation. And he came in and played fantastic."
Since arriving in Toronto on a two-year, $5 million deal in the summer, Stolarz has been one of the league's best goaltenders. He's won nine of 17 games this season and has a .927 save percentage, tied for the NHL lead.
"He's been unbelievable," William Nylander, who scored against Anaheim, said. "Obviously, I don't know what's up with him, but hopefully it's nothing too big."
The most Stolarz has played in a season is 28 games, a total he's already halved with Toronto not even halfway through the season. There were question marks going into the season about how he'd handle the workload, and until Thursday, Stolarz was playing strong.
It's an unfortunate injury, however, if we've learned anything about this Maple Leafs team, it's that they've been able to play strong even without some of their top players in the lineup.
"I mean, that's just the league, you just gotta roll with the punches," Conor Timmins said on Thursday. "Obviously, it's not ideal for us, but we have the next man up mentality."