Maple Leafs Reveal Who Received the Player of the Game Belt Following Big Win in Home Opener
The Toronto Maple Leafs have revived the Player of the Game championship belt for the 2024-25 season and have revealed who won the belt following Home Opening win.
Last night, the Maple Leafs secured an exciting 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to send the fans at Scotiabank Arena home happy, thanks in large to a 2-goal performance by William Nylander and another stellar showing for newcomer Anthony Stolarz.
Last season, the Leafs passed around their now famous Leafs championship belt to the player of the game, with the previous belt winner choosing a new winner after each win. Naturally, the passing of the belt will continue this season.
After Thursday's win in New Jersey, the admin of the Leafs' Twitter/X account did not post a photo, but the belt went to Dennis Hildeby after his first career NHL win. However, after Saturday's win in the season opener, the team was sure to post a photo of the belt winner after the home opener.
While William Nylander might have stood out as the logical winner after his 2-goal outing, the belt actually went to Stolarz, who kept the Leafs in the game with a number of timely saves.
Stolarz has been a bright spot for the Maple Leafs so far this season after being thrust into an immediate starting role due to some lower body stiffness that landed Joseph Woll on injured reserve.
So far this season, Stolarz has a 1.54 GAA and a .940 SV%, and although the sample size is very small (2 games), it's still a very encouraging start for the 30-year-old netminder.
