Leafs Goalie Anthony Stolarz Suddenly Struggling and a Former NHL Goaltender Explains Why
Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Former NHL goaltender Stephen Valiquette has identified a concerning trend for Anthony Stolarz amid rough stretch for the Maple Leafs.
Anthony Stolarz joined the Leafs this summer, just days after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. Surprisingly, he was in the middle of the early Vezina Trophy conversation until a knee injury in mid-December forced him to undergo surgery.
Returning just prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the former second-round pick appeared to have not missed a beat stopping 26 of 27 shots in his return against the Seattle Kraken and popping off for four wins in a row.
Unfortunately, Stolarz has struggled lately and the 31-year-old is in the midst of a 3-game losing streak where his save percentage dropped from game to game going from .909 to .889 to .844 on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Yesterday, on 'The Real Kyper and Bourne' show, former NHL goaltender Stephen Valiquette was asked about the recent drop off in the quality of Stolarz's play and pointed out a concerning trend that he has noticed over the last three games.
"The scoring chances weren't that heavy and quality in favour of Colorado the other night when they beat up on Stolarz...
What I saw in that game, and the two previous games as well, he's getting himself into trouble because he's getting wide before the shot and when he gets wide, his shoulders come down and he doesn't track towards where the puck is coming from.
Even a big goalie can play small that way. Stolarz, for first half of the season, he was really strong on his feet, being able to beat the pass on his feet, being able to have a big body posture."
What I saw in that game, and the two previous games as well, he's getting himself into trouble because he's getting wide before the shot and when he gets wide, his shoulders come down and he doesn't track towards where the puck is coming from.
Even a big goalie can play small that way. Stolarz, for first half of the season, he was really strong on his feet, being able to beat the pass on his feet, being able to have a big body posture."
The biggest concern about the goaltending for the Leafs coming into this season was fatigue as neither Woll nor Stolarz had started more than 30 games in a season. Woll has already surpassed his career-high of 25 starts that he set last season and Stolarz is five away from setting a new career-high of 29.
While Fatigue may be a factor, especially since the Leafs have played just 3 home games since the middle of January, the loss of Chris Tanev and additions of Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo have also played a part as Craig Berube attempts to find new defensive pairings and line combinations that work.
Stolarz is expected to start on Thursday against the Florida Panthers in what is a very important game for the Leafs if they want to have any chance at winning the Atlantic Division and securing home-ice advantage to kick off the playoffs.
| POLL | ||
MARS 12 | 2640 ANSWERS Leafs Goalie Anthony Stolarz Suddenly Struggling and a Former NHL Goaltender Explains Why Are you concerned with the play of Woll and Stolarz recently? | ||
| Yes, fatigue setting in | 1053 | 39.9 % |
| No, the team is in shambles without Tanev | 738 | 28 % |
| Not yet | 849 | 32.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
