The Leafs and their fans held their collective breath on Saturday as Anthony Stolarz appeared to suffer a lower-body injury versus Rangers.
With just under half of the third period gone in Saturday’s game against the New York Ranger, the Leafs and their fans got a scare when Stolarz needed play to be stopped after struggling to get back to his feet. Stolarz appeared to injure his foot or knee making a routine save, but after replays, it looked as though he hed taken a slash from Rangers’ forward Filip Chytil on the calf as Chytil and Simon Benoit battled for position in front of the net.
It was the second injury scare the Leafs endured during the game as Chris Tanev left the game in the second period after blocking a shot. Tanev returned early in the third period. Stolarz was also able to remain in the game after a brief conversation with the Leafs’ trainer.
Had Stolarz not been able to continue, the Leafs would have had to turn to Dennis Hildeby, who has not played since last Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, when he secured his first career NHL victory.
Stolarz has provided the Leafs with some excellent goaltending in the wake of Joseph Woll’s injury which he suffered ahead of the regular season opener against the Montreal Canadiens and was 2-1-0 heading into Saturday’s game.