TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz left Thursday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after the first period. The Leafs announced Stolarz would not return to the game with a lower-body injury.
Maple Leafs G Anthony Stolarz (lower body) will not return to tonight’s game.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) December 13, 2024
Stolarz stopped seven of eight shots in the first period and looked just as reliable and strong in his movements as he did during a 38-save win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Stolarz has been vital to the Leafs’ 17-9-2 record so far this season. He is in the middle of arguably the best season of his career since entering the NHL in 2016-17. Entering the game against the Ducks, the 30-year-old had an NHL-leading .928 save percentage, leading former Leafs and current Devils coach Sheldon Keefe to say the Leafs had the “best goaltending in the league.” Stolarz’s commanding 6-foot-6 frame has allowed him to track pucks well and move efficiently to shut down the league’s best shooters consistently.
In the process, combined with a resurgent Joseph Woll, the Leafs have the kind of strength in net they have rarely enjoyed as of late.
The Leafs have often rotated back and forth between Stolarz and Woll. But coach Craig Berube said Thursday morning Stolarz “had one hell of a game” against the Devils just two days earlier and that led to his getting the nod against one of his former teams, the Ducks.
Without knowing the seriousness of Stolarz’s injury, it’s worth noting how he has struggled through multiple lower-body injuries and surgeries in the past. He played just 27 games combined through the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
This season, it looked as if he was past the injuries that had become such a crucial part of his story and impressive career turnaround.
Depending on whether Stolarz is going to miss time, the Leafs could be forced to look at different options.
Dennis Hildeby already got a call-up from the Toronto Marlies earlier this season once Woll suffered an injury. Though he was one of the Marlies’ best players last season, he is trying to find his game again and has an .897 save percentage through six games in the AHL.
Veteran goalie Matt Murray was re-signed ahead of this season and also has played six games. Murray owns a far more impressive .912 save percentage and is rich with the kind of NHL experience Hildeby does not have.
AHL rookie Artur Akhtyamov has become the Marlies’ best story this season, with an 8-0-1 record and a sterling .929 save percentage. However, the fact he is so early in his North American professional career could factor into the possibility of an NHL call-up.
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(Photo: John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
