TORONTO — Anthony Stolarz no longer has a stall inside the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dressing room.
How’s that for a sign of severity?
The starting goaltender is recovering from the suspected concussion he suffered in Monday and there is no timeline for his return.
All eyes shift to 1B Joseph Woll, who had been patiently staying ready until he was rushed into action halfway through Game 1 and did enough to secure a 5-4 victory over the late-pressing Florida Panthers.
Wednesday marks Woll’s first start in 20 days (that meaningless regular-season finale against the Red Wings) and first start of any consequence in 24 days.
“You go from kind of chillin’ to being front line of the action,” the 26-year-old said.
Woll should be accustomed to playoff relief by now.
In 2023 and 2024, he replaced starter Ilya Samsonov midstream.
Woll’s impressive .924 save percentage in eight career playoff games looks even shinier when you remove his four relief appearances.
He’s a .950 in his four playoff starts.
Anything close to that should do the trick.
“You don’t really have any doubts, because you know he’s ready. Ever since I got here, we’ve kind of been (alternating) goalies, and he’s done a really good job for us. So, I think we have confidence in all our goalies,” Scott Laughton says.
“Very dedicated to his craft. Works extremely hard. Takes care of his body. A great pro.”
During Stolarz’s last prolonged absence, from Dec. 12 to Feb. 6, Woll held the fort with a 12-7-0 record and a .904 save percentage.
Woll will be backed up by veteran Matt Murray and not prospect Dennis Hildeby, who was Game 1’s emergency choice.
Coach Craig Berube simply wants an experienced option and another sage voice in the room.
“Been there, done it,” Berube says of Murray. “Won.”
Tkachuk at full strength?
The taunting chants rained down from Scotiabank Arena’s upper bowl Monday night: “Bra-dy’s bet-ter!”
And while big bro Matthew Tkachuk has undoubtedly enjoyed the more accomplished career, the winger’s impact in Game 1 was quiet by his standards. He has yet to put a Bradyesque stamp on the series.
It’s early, of course. And Matthew did log 19:06 in Game 1 — the most ice time he has seen in any game since getting injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I only played him about 12 minutes the first night (of playoffs),” Panthers coach Paul Maurice notes. “He’s very good at adapting his game to survive. He played a game with a broken clavicle two days after he broke it (in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final), and I think he had our three best scoring chances and had to completely rework how he played the game.
“He’s strong. He’s right. And he’s getting better.”
For all the hoopla over Sam Bennett, Tkachuk also flexed his greasiness in Game 1.
As the final buzzer sounded, Tkachuk attempted to take a swipe at Mitch Marner’s leg.
“I don’t care,” Marner dismissed. “Just playin’ hockey.”
The Maple Leafs have a mandate here: Don’t get dragged into the muck. Rise above the nonsense. Live to see Round 3.
“Don’t allow ’em to push your buttons. That’s the way I look at it,” Berube says.
Upon conclusion of battles Florida and Ontario, Matthew Tkachuk did pick Brady’s brain regarding Leafs’ weaknesses he could expose.
“A lot about individuals,” Matthew told The Pat McAfee Show. “Like, what you can exploit with some guys. What guys maybe get a little too riled up. What guys you can get off their game. What guys are looking like they’re playing through stuff or look a little injured.”
Counterpoint: Matthew himself may be a little injured here.
Nylander en fuego on Cinco de Mayo
After watching William Nylander follow up his three-point birthday game with another three-point show on Monday, Max Pacioretty can’t help but admire his linemate’s composure under stress.
“I don’t know about his golf game, but I would hate to bet against him,” Pacioretty says.
“Seems like he would never miss a small putt. He’s got ice in his veins. Sometimes in the playoffs after a good game, like he had in Game 6, it’s easy to kind of sit back and say, ‘You know, I’m good here for a little bit.’ But he comes out and scores 30 seconds in, first shot of the game, and it shows how clutch he is, and how well he’s able to perform under pressure.”
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Nylander can become the first player with three straight multi-goal playoff efforts since Joe Pavelski did so with the Sharks in 2010 and the second skater in franchise history to achieve the feat, following Alf Skinner against the Pacific Coast Hockey Association’s Vancouver Millionaires to open the 1918 Stanley Cup Final. (You remember that streak, right?)
Pacioretty himself leads the Leafs in hits since entering the playoffs and has linked a couple two-point performances since being elevated to Nylander and John Tavares’s second line.
The pace and physicality of a grinding Florida team suits the style of late-career Pacioretty.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Pacioretty says. “I’m trying to get the puck to two of the best players on the planet as much as I can and make life a little bit easier on them and harder on the opponent. At this stage, I know what’s effective — and that’s to give them the puck.”
One-Timers: The Maple Leafs have not built a 2-0 series lead after an opening round since the 1987 division final ,,, Aaron Ekblad enters the series after serving his two-game suspension for delivering a forearm shiver to Tampa star Brandon Hagel in Round 1. “A big get for them,” Berube said … If Florida is going to play reckless, the Maple Leafs must make it pay on the power-play. That didn’t happen in Game 1, as Toronto’s PP went 0-for-5 … Florida forward Mackie Samoskevich comes in for fourth-liner A.J. Greer.
Maple Leafs Game 2 lineup vs. Florida Panthers:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Holmberg
Lorentz – Laughton – Järnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Woll starts
Murray
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