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The Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series on Monday night. Toronto came out strong, building a three-goal lead and holding off a late push from Florida to take Game 1, 5–4.
While the win gave the Leafs their first series lead in the second round since 2001, the bigger story was the injury to goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Just five minutes into the game, Stolarz took a direct shot to the mask from Panthers forward Sam Reinhart that knocked his helmet off. Later, with under 13 minutes left in the second period, he was shaken up after a hit in front of the net by Florida’s Sam Bennett.
Stolarz immediately went down, but remained in the game for the next several minutes. He was later seen vomiting on the bench and taken to a nearby hospital after backup goaltender Joseph Woll replaced him.
Many Toronto fans called for the NHL Department of Player Safety to take action against Bennett. However, on Tuesday morning, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman confirmed, "There will be no supplemental discipline emanating from Florida/Toronto last night."
Bennett spoke to the media following Friedman’s report, saying he had reached out to his "good friend" Stolarz and was "just taking the puck to the net."
“I heard that he went to the hospital last night, and Stolie is a good friend of mine," Bennett said. "I reached out to him. He responded. And obviously, never want to see an injury like that. From my point of view, I'm just taking the puck to the net. I didn’t even know that we made contact until after. And, I mean, I'm on the power play. I'm trying to score. I'm taking the puck to the net. And, yeah, that's really all there was to it."
Stolarz was part of Florida’s Stanley Cup–winning team just a season ago. While he didn’t appear in any playoff games, he played a key role throughout the regular season alongside Bennett.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube wasn’t happy about the injury and called it an "elbow to the head" after the game.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) after getting injured versus the Florida Panthers.© John E. Sokolowski
Berube also spoke to the media on Tuesday and was asked whether Stolarz would be available for Wednesday’s Game 2 and if he had suffered a concussion.
"We'll see," he responded to both questions.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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While the win gave the Leafs their first series lead in the second round since 2001, the bigger story was the injury to goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Just five minutes into the game, Stolarz took a direct shot to the mask from Panthers forward Sam Reinhart that knocked his helmet off. Later, with under 13 minutes left in the second period, he was shaken up after a hit in front of the net by Florida’s Sam Bennett.
Stolarz immediately went down, but remained in the game for the next several minutes. He was later seen vomiting on the bench and taken to a nearby hospital after backup goaltender Joseph Woll replaced him.
Many Toronto fans called for the NHL Department of Player Safety to take action against Bennett. However, on Tuesday morning, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman confirmed, "There will be no supplemental discipline emanating from Florida/Toronto last night."
Bennett spoke to the media following Friedman’s report, saying he had reached out to his "good friend" Stolarz and was "just taking the puck to the net."
“I heard that he went to the hospital last night, and Stolie is a good friend of mine," Bennett said. "I reached out to him. He responded. And obviously, never want to see an injury like that. From my point of view, I'm just taking the puck to the net. I didn’t even know that we made contact until after. And, I mean, I'm on the power play. I'm trying to score. I'm taking the puck to the net. And, yeah, that's really all there was to it."
Stolarz was part of Florida’s Stanley Cup–winning team just a season ago. While he didn’t appear in any playoff games, he played a key role throughout the regular season alongside Bennett.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube wasn’t happy about the injury and called it an "elbow to the head" after the game.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) after getting injured versus the Florida Panthers.© John E. Sokolowski
Berube also spoke to the media on Tuesday and was asked whether Stolarz would be available for Wednesday’s Game 2 and if he had suffered a concussion.
"We'll see," he responded to both questions.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Related: Sam Bennett Reveals Brad Marchand’s First Text in Panthers' Group Chat
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Related: Mitch Marner Predicted to Sign with Western Conference Team in NHL Free Agency
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