Leafs Goalie Anthony Stolarz Officially Ruled Out For Game 2 Against Panthers

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which means it will be up to Joseph Woll to backstop the team in what is already an incredibly heated battle with the Florida Panthers.

The 31-year-old had a rough night at the office on Monday night, when he took a hard wrist shot straight to the mask from Sam Reinhart early in the game and then was hit in the head by Panthers forward Sam Bennett, after which he was seen vomiting into a bucket at the team's bench.

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Stolarz was then reportedly taken to a hospital on a stretcher, but it wasn't until Thursday afternoon that he was officially ruled out. 

Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz has been ruled out of Game 2 after taking a shot and a Sam Bennett forearm to the head in Game 1.. (Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This is less than ideal for the Leafs as Stolarz — who happened to win a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers just last season — was dynamite late in the season, and led the NHL with a .926 save percentage during the regular season.

Woll is no slouch, but his numbers this season are quite a way off from Stolarz's, with the former posting a .909 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA.

I don't think there's a reason to believe that Woll can't rise to the occasion, but the Leafs will need to lean on their offense for some goal support. In Game 1 — of which Woll played just under 30 minutes and gave up three goals — the Leafs only scored once while they attempted to stave off a second and third period comeback from the Panthers.

We'll see how much offense there is to be had, because I think Game 2 is going to be about physicality. That's just how the Panthers tend to play in general, but the Leafs are going to come out with a degree of ferocity to show the Cats that they're not going to be pushed around.

Or at least, that's what they should do.

Buckle up, kids. It's going to be a good one.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.