On Thursday, Stolarz left the game against the Anaheim Ducks after the first period and was replaced by Joseph Woll.
The Leafs revealed the following day that the lower-body injury was 'not serious', but when the team placed Stolarz on injured reserve , it raised more than a few eyebrows.
In light of Stolarz's injury, the Leafs recalled 23-year-old rookie Dennis Hildeby from the Toronto Marlies. Hildeby ended up getting the start and the victory on Sunday night, stopping 24 of 27 shots.
Post-game, Berube was asked about placing Stolarz on injured reserve, but was hesitant to provide any sort of update. The comments Berube made, however, raised concerns over the severity of Stolarz's injury.
If there is one thing we have learned about the Leafs this season, it's that injuries deemed to be 'not serious' often end up leading to multiple weeks to heal, as we saw in the cases of Max Domi, Auston Matthews and others.
The lack of clarity around injuries is why Berube's latest comments on Stolarz have fans unsure of what to believe.
Stolarz has quietly been the Leafs' MVP so far this season and any length of time he misses would be a huge loss for the team. Through 17 starts, the former second-round pick is 9-5-2 with a league-leading .927 save percentage and 2.15 GAA.
Signed to a two-year deal days after winning the Stanley Cup, Stolarz and Woll have been silencing critics about the inexperience the two share as neither have started more than 30 games in a season. Unfortunately, both have been unable to silence the critics that called out their health issues, with Stolarz being the latest Leaf to go down with an injury.
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23 HOURS AGO | 747 ANSWERS Craig Berube's Comments on Leafs Goaltender Anthony Stolarz Don't Sound Too Promising How long will Stolarz be out for? | ||