Photo via TSN
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost in more ways than one on Tuesday night. Yes, they lost 5-3 to the Boston Bruins, but players continue to drop like flies. Things are looking good for the buds in blue right now. The Leafs have now lost three in a row. After starting the month of November with a 3-0-0 record, they are now 3-3-0 this month.
As if things for the Maple Leafs weren’t bad enough, you can add some bad news on the injury front to the team’s troubles. Leafs captain, Auston Matthews, left the game in the second period and did not return. He was hit from behind by Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov. It’s the second straight game against the Bruins in which Zadorov has taken out a Maple Leafs player. He leveled Scott Laughton on Saturday night, sending him back to IR. Laughton had only been back for two games after missing the start of the season due to an injury sustained in pre-season.
The Maple Leafs are hoping the Matthews injury isn’t any type of recurrence of the upper-body injury that forced him to miss 15 games last season. That injury seemed to linger and hamper Matthews all season. Everyone is certainly holding their breath that he doesn’t miss any time. Matthews was finally finding his rhythm this month after a subpar October. Toronto head coach Craig Bérubé spoke with reporters after the game and stated that he wasn’t pleased with Zadorov’s hit from behind on Matthews.
Maple Leafs Net Woes Continue
Goaltending for the Toronto Maple Leafs has been way below expectations. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz got pulled for the second straight game after another poor performance in the first period. However, we learned after the game from Bérubé that Stolarz suffered an upper-body injury. The head coach did say that the injury doesn’t appear to be serious. For a team that is dead last in the NHL with a 3.82 goals against average, an injury to Stolarz is the last thing they need.
Stolarz is 6-5-1 through 13 games played this season. He has a 3.51 GAA and a .884 SV%. He was 7-4-2 through his first 13 games last season. With Joseph Woll out to start the season, the Maple Leafs needed Stolarz to be their number one guy. However, he is not playing anywhere near the calibre of a number one goaltender. Woll is close to returning, so hopefully that will balance everything out, and Stolarz will return to his usual form.
Joseph Woll is currently in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint. Once he feels that his timing and everything is at the level it needs to be for NHL action, he will return to the Leafs. Fans are getting impatient with the Maple Leafs’ slow start, so a return by Woll would be some nice news. Hopefully, for the Leafs sake, Woll will return and play like he did last season. He finished the 2024-25 season with a 27-14-1 record through 41 games played, with a 2.73 GAA and a .909 SV% and one shutout.
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