Mark Masters just reported what Anthony Stolarz changed this season, and the Maple Leafs goalie says he went back to his old self.
Toronto has a real goalie conversation on its hands, and Stolarz's own explanation lands right in the middle of it. The Maple Leafs host Utah tonight, so the timing is hard to ignore.
Masters noted that Stolarz is using the same approach he had in 2023-24, when he backed up Sergei Bobrovsky in Florida.
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The goalie was blunt about what went wrong before. "My mindset maybe at the beginning of last year was a little different & you realize that didn't work. So, I went back to my old self & I've done that to start this year," Stolarz told Masters.
Nothing in those words points to a new technique or a system tweak. It's all about his head, and the admission that last year's version of it didn't work.
That matters because it follows what he did Saturday night. Anthony Stolarz's win in Vancouver came with 26 saves on 28 shots in a 4-2 Toronto victory.
Why the Maple Leafs goalie picture just got complicated
The Maple Leafs didn't plan on a debate. Bobrovsky was the man in the crease until he gave up five goals on 17 shots in Seattle last Wednesday, a 5-4 loss.
That night produced John Chayka backing Sergei Bobrovsky publicly, and the general manager's support is real. But a goalie who stops 26 of 28 the following Saturday changes the conversation fast.
Stolarz is 32 and has 174 regular-season games over his NHL career. He isn't a prospect still learning who he is. He's a veteran who has figured out which version of himself works, and that's easier to trust than a goalie searching for answers.
Toronto sits 8-6-2, 13th in the NHL and sixth in the Atlantic Division, with a goal differential of +7. That's a middle-of-the-pack team that can't afford a shaky crease.
If Jim Hiller keeps leaning on the goalie who has his old routine back, nobody should be surprised. Bobrovsky's night in Seattle gives the coach every reason to do it.
Utah is in town tonight, and the choice in the Toronto crease is the next piece of evidence.
Should the Maple Leafs make Anthony Stolarz their number one goalie over Sergei Bobrovsky right now?
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