Leafs Coach Craig Berube Addresses Concerns About Anthony Stolarz

The Toronto Maple Leafs were one goal away from completing their first series sweep in the post-season since 2001. Unfortunately for them, the Ottawa Senators lived to see another day after Jake Sanderson's floater from the point served as the overtime winner, and forced a Game 5.

The Maple Leafs didn't play their best game last night and they left a lot to be desired in yet another series clincher as they've now fallen to 1-13 in elimination games during the Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander era.

One player that fell under the microscope after last night's performance was goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who entered the contest riding an 11-game winning streak, dating back to his final 8 games during the regular season.

He certainly didn't have his best outing as the Senators scored 4 goals on just 21 shots, but head coach Craig Berube backed his netminder and didn't find many faults in his game.

To back Berube's statement, there wasn't much he could do on Shane Pinto's shorthanded breakaway goal, Artem Zub then found David Perron wide-open on the side of the net on the third goal, and Sanderson's shot beat Stolarz from deep, due to an immense amount of traffic in front of the net.

The only goal you could really pin on him was the opening tally by Tim Stutzle, but he wired a perfectly placed one-timer from the face-off dot while on the power play.

Ottawa also only managed 1 shot in the second period and 3 in the third, which meant that Stolarz was essentially inactive for two-thirds of regulation after facing 10 shots in the first period. It's not always easy for a goaltender to be phased out of the game like that, but it's certainly a game he would like to have back.

That opportunity will present itself on Tuesday night when the scene shifts back to Toronto with a little more pressure on the Leafs as they will look to close out the series for a second straight game.