Panthers Sam Bennett Speaks Out After Controversial Collision With Leafs' Anthony Stolarz

The first game of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs gave us plenty of stuff to talk about, and most of it centered around Florida Panthers' forward Sam Bennett.

Bennett — no stranger to postseason controversy — collided with Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz, with him seemingly hitting him in the head with his forearm.

A few minutes later, Stolarz left the game after vomiting at the bench, and reportedly needed to be stretchered to a nearby hospital, but has since been released.

Now, it's unclear whether it was the hit from Bennett or a heavy wrist shot from Panthers forward Sam Reinhart that hit him straight in the mask that led to Stolarz's injury, but it certainly didn't help. There was no penalty on the play, and while a lot of people wanted the NHL's Department of Player Safety to dish out some supplemental discipline, it didn't happen.

Bennett didn't speak after the game and gave his first comments following the incident on Tuesday.

"Stollie is a good friend of mine," Bennett said, per Sportsnet. "I reached out to him. He responded. "Obviously, never want to see an injury like that. From my point of view, I'm just taking the puck to the net. I didn't even know we made contact until after. I'm on the power play, I'm trying to score. I'm taking the puck to the net. That's really all there was to it."

Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett gave his first comments after a controversial play in Game 1 that appeared to lead to an injury for Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. (Photo by Michael Chisholm/NHLI via Getty Images)

Despite the way he defended himself on the play, Bennett said that he understood why there was so much anger afterward.

"I think I can understand why people reacted that way (being angry) because Stollie is injured," Bennett said. "Of course, when your starting goaltender gets injured, people are going to be upset. Looking back at the video, the contact that was made, in my opinion, it's really just a bump. There was no forceful action. I'm trying to score. The last thing on my mind is thinking about elbowing him in the head. When it happened, I didn't even realize I had made contact."

Stolarz played for the Panthers as recently as just last season, and won a Stanley Cup with the team. Surprisingly, despite the apparent severity of his injuries, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has not ruled him out for Wednesday's Game 2.