In the third period, Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit and Rangers' forward Filip Chytil were battling for position at the side of the net when Stolarz stretched out to make a pad save. As he made the save, Chytil inadvertently slashed Stolarz's ankle before he was thrown off balance by Benoit which led to his skate blade catching Stolarz as well.
Stolarz's reaction to the contact made everyone momentarily hold their breath, but after a conversation with the Leafs' trainer, he remained in the game. Following the loss, Stolarz explained that a past incident is what caused his reaction.
The league has seen multiple players suffer terrifying cuts by skate blades, including Erik Karlsson, Evander Kane and even former Leaf Ilya Mikheyev, but thankfully, Stolarz escaped without catastrophic injury.
Losing Stolarz while Woll battles back from a groin injury would have left the Leafs to depend on Dennis Hildeby and potentially Matt Murray. That will not be the case, however, as Stolarz was not injured on the play, despite the concerning reaction.
POLL | ||
20 OCTOBRE | 2019 ANSWERS Leafs' Anthony Stolarz Reveals the Nature of his Injury Scare on Saturday Who do you think will be the Leafs' starter by the end of the season? | ||
Stolarz | 1399 | 69.3 % |
Woll | 211 | 10.5 % |
Hildeby | 87 | 4.3 % |
Nobody -- it will be a tandem the whole time | 322 | 15.9 % |
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