TORONTO — Anthony Stolarz has taken on plenty of supporting roles.
After a junior career where he often split the net, the hulking goaltender spent most of the next decade riding American Hockey League buses and NHL benches.
Stolarz saw an opportunity when he signed with the Maple Leafs in free agency last summer.
He’s made the most of that chance — and is now starring on centre stage.
The 31-year-old has stopped 57 of the 61 shots he’s faced in a pair of Toronto victories to open the club’s first-round playoff series with the Ottawa Senators.
Stolarz had to be sharp when score was close in a 6-2 triumph in Game 1. He then held the fort after his team blew an early 2-0 lead before securing a 3-2 overtime decision in Game 2.
“This is what you live for,” the sweat-soaked Edison, N.J., product said Tuesday night in the Leafs’ locker room. “This is playoff hockey.”
Stolarz, who finished with a 21-8-3 record, .926 save percentage, 2.14 goals-against average and five shutouts in the regular season, had just under 35 minutes of NHL playoff experience coming into this spring after occupying the No. 2 role behind Sergei Bobrovsky in the Florida Panthers’ run to their first Stanley Cup title last June.
That journey ended with sipping champagne from hockey’s holy grail. He also jotted down plenty of notes along the way.
“How (Bobrovsky) conducted his day-to-day routine and what it took to prepare and sit next to him in the locker room and just speak to him, I think that went pretty far for me,” said Stolarz, who had a .925 save percentage with Florida. “I’m just trying to take all that experience from last year and roll it over.”
Before landing with the Panthers, the six-foot-six, 243-pound netminder had bounced around after being selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Stolarz, who missed time in 2024-25 with a knee injury, shared Toronto’s crease with Joseph Woll for much of the regular season before separating himself down the stretch with eight straight victories — including shutouts in three of his final four starts — to go along with a .950 save percentage and a 1.40 GAA.
Leafs winger Max Domi, who scored the OT clincher in Game 2, was teammates with Stolarz in junior when the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights played in back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2013 and 2014.
“He’s a gamer,” Domi said. “He always has been a gamer. Unbelievable teammate.”
Toronto centre John Tavares said there are lessons in Stolarz’s path.
“Never quit,” he said. “Keep competing, keep believing in yourself. His abilities that go along with that belief and competitiveness, it’s a great combo.”
Stolarz also isn’t shy about standing his ground. The testy best-of-seven Battle of Ontario, which continues Thursday in the nation’s capital, has already seen plenty of run-ins, including Stolarz dropping Ottawa antagonist Ridly Greig in his crease Tuesday.
“I’ve seen that in junior, too,” said Toronto winger Mitch Marner, another Knights alum. “He’s a big man. He sticks up for himself.”
Leafs head coach Craig Berube was in Philadelphia when Stolarz was just getting his feet wet at the pro level.
“He came in this year wanting to be a starter,” said the 2019 Cup-winning bench boss with the St. Louis Blues. “He’s been excellent all year … coming back from the injury, it took him a bit to establish himself again.
“But he’s doing the job for us now.”
Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, who has two goals in the series, said the group can play even better in front of their netminder as part of a Berube-led system that demands a north-south approach and a commitment to making life difficult on the opposition at every turn.
“He’s been outstanding,” the blueliner said of Stolarz. “He’s answered the bell. There’s no question that he’s been a stud.”
Stolarz has waited a long time be in this position. He’s enjoying the ride — and isn’t about to let the opportunity slip.
“All about patience,” he said. “Making sure that I’m ready.”
That time is now.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
