Toronto Maple Leafs goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz was scratched from Saturday’s scheduled start against Senators in Ottawa after taking a puck to the throat during warmups.
Stolarz was taken to the hospital for precautionary imaging and later released, according to NHL.com.
Head coach Craig Berube said after the game, a 5-2 loss, that he didn’t have an update on the netminder’s condition, but Stolarz was expected to meet the team for the flight back to Toronto.
Joseph Woll, who had just faced 36 shots on goal in Friday’s overtime loss to the Hurricanes, started in Stolarz’s place, surrendering five goals in the one-sided wash.
Forward William Nylander, who took the shot that pelted Stolarz, reflected on the freak accident after the game — revealing that he’d talked with the goalie, and he seemed to be doing alright.
“Obviously it’s, you know, really tough to see that happen,” Nylander said. “I mean, I always come in and shoot the puck in the glove, and this one just came off a little bit to the left, and I hit him in the neck. So, I mean, I was obviously worried for him, but, I mean, I’ve been texting with him, so he seems to be OK.”
Stolarz, 32, is 8–9–3 with an .894 save percentage across 22 games (21 starts) in second season with the Maple Leafs, following a run to the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024 as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup.
Limited to just 34 games last season due to knee surgery, the veteran goalie inked a four-year, $15 million contract in September to stay in Toronto through the 2029–2030 campaign.
Injury problems have followed Stolarz into his new contract, already missing 33 games earlier this season to nurse an upper-body injury.
The Maple Leafs (29–29–13) sit 13 points behind the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot, and they’ll next head down to Boston for a Tuesday night matchup with the Bruins.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
