Leafs Goalie Anthony Stolarz Gives Lackadaisical Response When Pressed About Poor Start
Photo credit: Gerry Angus-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz has not had a good start to the NHL season, and quite frankly, his response hasn't exactly been amazing either.
Anthony Stolarz has not been his usual self to start the NHL season. After last year's incredible performance, the expectations were high going into this new campaign.
Without Joseph Woll on the roster, Stolarz has been forced to take on a high workload, and unfortunately, he has not been able to keep up with the demands.
In seven starts, he has a record of 2-4-1, a goals-against average of 3.31, and a save percentage of .885. This is not good enough, especially when you consider how the netminder called out his own teammates about a week ago.
Anthony Stolarz asked about his bad numbers
Recently, Stolarz spoke to the media, where he was asked about the slow start to the season. For the most part, his answer was pretty boring.
It was the typical hockey speech about how he needs to just focus on making the next save, and battling for pucks in his crease.
Obviously, the numbers aren't there for what I want. But, at the end of the day, it's a long season, and for me, it's just continuing to work, continuing to battle... I think it's just dialling it in a little more, making that one more save, just whether it's to keep the score tied or to keep it a one-goal game, or preserve the lead
This is good lip service, but the results need to be there. At 4-4-1, the Maple Leafs are not good enough right now, and they need their goaltender to be better.
Stolarz went through some slumps last season, and in the eyes of many, his issue was the fact that he was playing too small in his crease.
He just needs to make himself bigger and put himself in front of pucks. This is what worked for him when he was playing Vezina-level hockey last season.
Only time will tell whether or not Stolarz can get back on track, especially as the Leafs play against the Calgary Flames tonight.
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