TORONTO — Four starts in seven days. We’re in uncharted territory for Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz.
One possible consequence? Through parts of Game 3 but certainly in the Game 4 loss against the Ottawa Senators, the NHL’s league leader in save percentage looked different than he did through a remarkable regular season.
Advertisement
Beatable.
Stolarz allowed four goals on 21 shots Saturday in Game 4. The last time he allowed at least four goals was back on March 8 against the Colorado Avalanche, one of the league’s best teams. He allowed four or more goals five times this season — but, crucially, never on as few shots as he faced in Game 4.
“It boils down to making one more save on my end,” Stolarz said of his team’s performance in the 4-3 overtime loss.
And that brings Stolarz’s heavy workload as of late back into frame. The concern over Stolarz was never whether he was deserving of the Leafs’ playoff starter gig. His .926 save percentage over 34 games made him the clear front-runner ahead of Joseph Woll. The concern was how Stolarz would handle the increased workload the playoffs bring — those 34 games were most of his NHL career.
Now Stolarz’s Game 4 loss makes it clear: He’s about to handle his first real playoff test, and probably the biggest test of his career.
How he pushes through the fatigue and physical strain that comes with the heavy workload will partly dictate whether the Leafs can finish off the Senators early enough, starting with Game Five on Tuesday.
“I feel fine,” Stolarz said of his workload. “It’s part of being an athlete. It’s part of what you train for.”
Still, no amount of training can replicate experience.
Stolarz has come close to starting four times in seven days this season, sure. He made three starts in seven days in late February and ripped off three wins with nine goals allowed. Then there were his four starts in 10 days in October when Joseph Woll went down with injury before the season. And hey, Stolarz’s three starts in six days in early November marked the beginning of Anthony Stolarz as we know him! He allowed just three goals in those three games.
Those are encouraging numbers. But truly, there’s been nothing like this stretch in his career.
He is a career backup who deserved a better fate or at least better opportunities because of his combination of size, drive and talent. But because the starter’s job has never come, Stolarz has never had to grind through a relentless stretch of games with quite this much prominence.
The physical strain of starts in quick succession isn’t something Anthony Stolarz has dealt with often in his NHL career. (Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
You can look at Stolarz’s play with a clear head this season and see both sides of the coin. He has been one of the Leafs’ best players and they likely don’t win the Atlantic Division without him. But you can also maintain a small degree of worry that when the work has piled up for Stolarz, injuries seem to loom large.
Advertisement
Go back to December, when Stolarz made one of just four starts this season on one day’s rest. He started against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 12, which was his third start in seven days. After the first period, Stolarz was forced out of the game and had to undergo what the Leafs called a knee procedure. He would not return until Feb. 6.
Back in 2018-19 with the Philadelphia Flyers, he went through a heavy workload through the month of December: seven games in 15 days, six of those being starts. Stolarz struggled to keep the puck out of the net during that stretch. In the seventh game, Stolarz suffered an injury that kept him out for a month and a half.
It’s highly unlikely Craig Berube moves on from Stolarz in this series. The Leafs coach wants to have one goalie manning the crease in the playoffs, and the 3-0 lead the Leafs took into Game 4 was largely due to Stolarz, anyway. Berube has a sense of trust in his goalie’s fire, competitiveness and ability to use his massive frame to keep pucks out. It feels like it would take multiple calamitous results from Stolarz for Berube to break the “in case of emergency” glass and turn to Woll.
And even then, turning to Woll for a potential Game 7 when he hasn’t played since April 17 doesn’t feel like the better course of action, either.
“I’m not concerned about Stolarz,” Berube said after Game 4, adding he didn’t think his goalie had a clear sightline on Jake Sanderson’s overtime goal.
“(Sanderson) just threw the puck on net,” Stolarz said. “I just picked it up a little late. I tried to get there and fight through the screen.”
And so Stolarz probably has a long leash, even considering Berube has a very strong option in Woll — don’t forget about his .909 save percentage this season and his career .933 save percentage through seven playoff games.
Advertisement
That just puts the onus on Stolarz to recover properly and adjust quickly to the increased workload. Doing so will be one of the more serious challenges any Leaf faces through the playoffs.
The postseason remains a new beast for Stolarz. His only previous postseason appearance came last season after Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Sure, Stolarz can claim he’s sticking to his process and the game doesn’t change all that much from the regular season to the second season. And he deserves the benefit of the doubt, given the numbers he put up this season.
The only thing that really changes is the schedule. Had the Leafs finished off the Senators in Game 4, they would have bought themselves some well-earned rest ahead of the second round. Few would have benefited more from that rest than the only player logging nearly 60 minutes a game.
Instead, Stolarz will have to prepare for another start on a short turnaround come Tuesday.
For the first time in months, there might be a new question or two about what that game looks like.
(Top photo: Marc DesRosiers / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Vancouver thrashes Messi’s Miami to reach Concacaf Champions Cup final
The Vancouver Whitecaps continued their dominant start to 2025, reaching the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup with a commanding 3-1 win (5-1 on aggregate) at Inter Miami. The visitors weathered a ninth-minute goal from Spanish defender Jordi Alba, then broke out just after halftime with a barrage led by Brian White and emerging midfielder Sebastian Berhalter.AdvertisementVancouver becomes the third Canadian club to reach the continental club final, joining CF Montréal (then known as the Montréal Impact) in 2015 and Toronto FC in 2018. The Whitecaps will face a Mexican opponent, either Tigres or Cruz Azul, in the final on June 1. The other semifinal is level at 1-1 on aggregate leading into Thursday night’s second leg.Coincidentally, the defeat sees Lionel Messi & Co. eliminated from the North and Central American continental club competition on the same day Cristiano Ronaldo […]
Giants drop game and series to Padres, end April on a confusing note
It was tempting to make too much of the Giants’ first matchup against an NL West rival. Now that the series is over, with the Padres winning both games, it’s even more tempting. I know I’m tempted. Some of you rascals will even give in to that temptation in the comments, and I’m a little jealous.The series had extra importance built into it because it was the first chance the Giants had to show off against a division rival. Their hot start was built against all sorts of teams, including the Phillies, Yankees and four-fifths of the AL West, but they couldn’t test themselves against the other flourishing teams in their own division. There wasn’t any head-to-head evidence to scrutinize.AdvertisementNow the early returns are in, and we can make too much of it. So without further ado, here are the […]
Capitals eliminate Canadiens with 4-1 win in Game 5: Takeaways
WASHINGTON — Ahead of his team’s game on Wednesday night, Spencer Carbery was asked how difficult it was to close out a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The coach of the Washington Capitals, his team up 3-1 in the series on the Montreal Canadiens, couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “It’s extremely difficult,” he said. At the time, he’d never done it; the Rangers swept the Capitals in Carbery’s first playoff series as an NHL coach.Advertisement“It is a gauntlet just to win a playoff game, let alone win a series,” Carbery said. “We know the obstacle in front of us and the challenges in front of us, and it’s on us to come out and play our best game of the series tonight on home ice.”They came close enough, beating Montreal 4-1 in Game 5 and advancing to the second […]
Lakers coach JJ Redick storms out of press conference after taking issue with question about lineup decisions
Getty Images JJ Redick, by and large, has had a successful first season as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday, however, he made his first major decision that drew significant criticism. With the Lakers trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves 2-1 in their first-round series and most of his roster struggling, Redick elected to use the same five players (LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith) for the entire second half. They built up a 12-point lead, but ultimately lost the game in part because the players seemed to run out of gas at the end.Redick was the first coach of the play-by-play era ever to use only five players across an entire second half in a playoff game, and because the Lakers lost, the decision naturally become controversial. After Game 4, Redick explained that […]
Dodgers’ Max Muncy calls first homer of season ’emotional’ after cold start
<!--> Max Muncy seemed to unleash a month’s worth of frustration with one swing on Wednesday, sending a 107.7 mph drive 433 feet over the center-field wall for his first home run of the season in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 12-7 victory over the Miami Marlins."It’s not easy," Muncy said, when asked how much of a grind the first month of the season has been. "It’s not easy on me or my family. It’s a privilege to play in LA under this pressure — it’s something I’ve always thrived on — but it doesn’t mean it’s been easy. It’s been a rough month."Muncy, 34, entered the series finale with a .180 average, .531 OPS, no homers and four RBIs in his first 28 games, paltry power numbers for a slugger who had averaged 32 homers a year from 2018-2023.But he […]
Vancouver’s Pedro Vite finds the back of the net vs. Inter Miami
Vancouver's Pedro Vite finds the back of the net vs. Inter Miami | FOX Sports <!--> --> Video Details Vancouver's Pedro Vite found the back of the net vs. Inter Miami. JUST IN・soccer・1:28
Related
Vancouver thrashes Messi’s Miami to reach Concacaf Champions Cup final
The Vancouver Whitecaps continued their dominant start to 2025, reaching the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup with a commanding 3-1 win (5-1 on aggregate) at Inter Miami. The visitors weathered a ninth-minute goal from Spanish defender Jordi Alba, then broke out just after halftime with a barrage led by Brian White and emerging midfielder Sebastian Berhalter.AdvertisementVancouver becomes the third Canadian club to reach the continental club final, joining CF Montréal (then known as the Montréal Impact) in 2015 and Toronto FC in 2018. The Whitecaps will face a Mexican opponent, either Tigres or Cruz Azul, in the final on June 1. The other semifinal is level at 1-1 on aggregate leading into Thursday night’s second leg.Coincidentally, the defeat sees Lionel Messi & Co. eliminated from the North and Central American continental club competition on the same day Cristiano Ronaldo […]
Giants drop game and series to Padres, end April on a confusing note
It was tempting to make too much of the Giants’ first matchup against an NL West rival. Now that the series is over, with the Padres winning both games, it’s even more tempting. I know I’m tempted. Some of you rascals will even give in to that temptation in the comments, and I’m a little jealous.The series had extra importance built into it because it was the first chance the Giants had to show off against a division rival. Their hot start was built against all sorts of teams, including the Phillies, Yankees and four-fifths of the AL West, but they couldn’t test themselves against the other flourishing teams in their own division. There wasn’t any head-to-head evidence to scrutinize.AdvertisementNow the early returns are in, and we can make too much of it. So without further ado, here are the […]
Capitals eliminate Canadiens with 4-1 win in Game 5: Takeaways
WASHINGTON — Ahead of his team’s game on Wednesday night, Spencer Carbery was asked how difficult it was to close out a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The coach of the Washington Capitals, his team up 3-1 in the series on the Montreal Canadiens, couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “It’s extremely difficult,” he said. At the time, he’d never done it; the Rangers swept the Capitals in Carbery’s first playoff series as an NHL coach.Advertisement“It is a gauntlet just to win a playoff game, let alone win a series,” Carbery said. “We know the obstacle in front of us and the challenges in front of us, and it’s on us to come out and play our best game of the series tonight on home ice.”They came close enough, beating Montreal 4-1 in Game 5 and advancing to the second […]
Lakers coach JJ Redick storms out of press conference after taking issue with question about lineup decisions
Getty Images JJ Redick, by and large, has had a successful first season as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday, however, he made his first major decision that drew significant criticism. With the Lakers trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves 2-1 in their first-round series and most of his roster struggling, Redick elected to use the same five players (LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith) for the entire second half. They built up a 12-point lead, but ultimately lost the game in part because the players seemed to run out of gas at the end.Redick was the first coach of the play-by-play era ever to use only five players across an entire second half in a playoff game, and because the Lakers lost, the decision naturally become controversial. After Game 4, Redick explained that […]
Dodgers’ Max Muncy calls first homer of season ’emotional’ after cold start
<!--> Max Muncy seemed to unleash a month’s worth of frustration with one swing on Wednesday, sending a 107.7 mph drive 433 feet over the center-field wall for his first home run of the season in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 12-7 victory over the Miami Marlins."It’s not easy," Muncy said, when asked how much of a grind the first month of the season has been. "It’s not easy on me or my family. It’s a privilege to play in LA under this pressure — it’s something I’ve always thrived on — but it doesn’t mean it’s been easy. It’s been a rough month."Muncy, 34, entered the series finale with a .180 average, .531 OPS, no homers and four RBIs in his first 28 games, paltry power numbers for a slugger who had averaged 32 homers a year from 2018-2023.But he […]
Vancouver’s Pedro Vite finds the back of the net vs. Inter Miami
Vancouver's Pedro Vite finds the back of the net vs. Inter Miami | FOX Sports <!--> --> Video Details Vancouver's Pedro Vite found the back of the net vs. Inter Miami. JUST IN・soccer・1:28
Be the first to leave a comment