Maple Leafs Goaltender Anthony Stolarz Makes the Save of the Year Thus Far
Anthony Stolarz made a ridiculous save with the Leafs killing off a five-on-three against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second period of Prime Monday Night Hockey.
Stolarz found out he was starting his fifth game of the season this morning after another stellar performance against the New York Rangers on Saturday. So far this season, Stolarz has given the Leafs top quality goaltending, posting a .937 save percentage and 1.79 GAA, through four starts.
Midway through the second period of Monday's game, the Leafs were in penalty trouble, having to kill off a five-on-three while up 4-1. After a couple of blocked shots, Brandon Hagel was able to get a shot through which handcuffed Stolarz to a degree, as the puck fell to the ice at the side of the net. Jake Guentzel had a wide open net to stuff the puck into, and looked primed to trim the lead to 4-2, but Stolarz had other plans as he dove back and pulled the puck off the goal line.
The save led to an eruption from the normally quiet crowd at ScotiaBank Arena, which ended up in a standing ovation for the 30-year-old, former second-round pick. The Leafs ended up killing the five-on-three and eventually added another goal courtesy of Matthew Knies.
Through two periods, Stolarz had stopped 26 of 27 shots the Lightning managed to get to the net. With the Leafs playing tomorrow night in Columbus, it would not be surprising if Stolarz was given the night off, especially after a pair of excellent performances against two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 21 | 1922 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Goaltender Anthony Stolarz Makes the Save of the Year Thus Far Can Stolarz keep up this play all season? | ||
| Yes | 1213 | 63.1 % |
| No | 185 | 9.6 % |
| As long as the Leafs manage his workload | 524 | 27.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
