The Toronto Maple Leafs are just one game from being sent home for the season. Toronto will be looking to extend its second-round playoff series with the Florida Panthers in Game 6, but it’ll have to win on the road to do so.
The Maple Leafs held a 2-0 series lead but have dropped three straight games to the defending Stanley Cup champions. One reason for this is that Toronto has been without starting goalie Anthony Stolarz since Game 1.
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Stolarz suffered a scary injury on a collision with Panthers center Sam Bennett. Backup Joseph Woll has taken over in the net for the Maple Leafs, and Toronto is likely to rely on him for the remainder of the series.
Kristen Shilton of ESPN provided the latest update on Stolarz.
“To get back to Toronto for a Game 7, the Leafs will have to win in Florida, but they likely won’t have starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz,” Shilton said. “He has been sidelined since Game 1 of the series with an undisclosed injury. He resumed skating over the weekend and was on the ice for a 30-minute workout on Thursday, but Berube doubted Stolarz would join the Leafs in Florida for Game 6.”
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz grabs his head after a collision with Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett (not pictured) during the second period of Game 1 of their second-round series.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Without Stolarz, Woll is going to have to step up for the Maple Leafs. Woll gave up five goals on 25 shots before he was benched in Game 5, putting some doubt in his abilities entering the crucial Game 6 contest.
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If Woll can step up again for this team, the Maple Leafs may have enough juice left to send things back to Toronto for Game 7.
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