Stolarz bails out messy Maple Leafs in uneven season opener

TORONTO — For a brief moment, it seemed like the first chapter of a statement performance.

The season was barely two minutes old, the throngs of Toronto Maple Leafs fans barely settled in their seats, and William Nylander was gathering the puck off an offensive-zone faceoff, darting to the slot, and whipping it on net. And there was Bobby McMann — he of that much-discussed, months-long, late-season scoring slump — deflecting No. 88â€s shot through Sam Montembeaultâ€s five-hole, doing in 60 seconds this year what he couldnâ€t muster over hours, days and weeks to end the last campaign. Setting the tone for a group thatâ€s waded through months of question marks and scrutiny and doubt.

It took five minutes for it all to go sideways, for the quick-footed Montreal Canadiens to turn up the heat and get these Maple Leafs wobbling. Hemmed in their own zone for lengthy spells, bobbling pucks and sending ill-fated passes skittering off-target, Craig Berubeâ€s squad slowly came apart, the Habs pouncing on the home sideâ€s mistakes to pot a short-handed equalizer early in the first, and a go-ahead tally early in the second.

The Maple Leafs managed to wrestle it back, a motivated Morgan Rielly urging his club forward and spurring a Calle Jarnkrok goal in the second before the defender sniped the game-winner himself a period later. A couple empty-netters from Auston Matthews and Nylander eventually helped paper over the rocky opening night. But anyone who missed the Toronto Blue Jays†crowning performance Wednesday to watch the Maple Leafs — whose fans†loudest cheers came when the Jays game was briefly thrown up on the big screen — will know the final score-line betrays what really took place out on the Scotiabank Arena ice.

“It looked like our first game,†Rielly said from the locker room after the dust had settled on a nervy 5-2 Maple Leafs†win. “There was some good and some not so good. But I think itâ€s good just the way that we stuck together and pulled it out. I thought we played well in the third, and thatâ€s important.

“Itâ€s just early-season stuff. It is what it is — itâ€s our first game. … Weâ€re going to look to improve and build our game. We have high expectations for our group, and I think at times in the middle of the game, we didnâ€t manage the puck that well, and then obviously in the third we came out and played well.”

In between, before the home side found life late and managed to pull a season-opening victory out of the muck, netminder Anthony Stolarz did his best to keep his club in it.

The 31-year-old â€” whoâ€s fresh off inking a four-year, $15-million extension in Toronto after a 2024-25 campaign that saw him finish with a league-best .926 save percentage — did exactly what he was called on to do in Game 1 of the new campaign, holding the Canadiens at bay until the group in front of him found their legs.

“The goalie was good — you know, we had some players who were really good tonight,†head coach Craig Berube said of Stolarz post-game. “Overall, our puck play wasn’t great. I think that was the root of our problems.â€

Stolarz bore the brunt of that poor puck-play. When the Maple Leafs found themselves stuck in their own zone minutes after scoring that game-opening goal, it was No. 41 nullifying the Habs†growing pressure. When a series of brutal giveaways gifted Montreal multiple grade-A chances soon after they tallied that short-handed equalizer, Stolarz was there to calm things down.

The towering ‘tender got little help on the two goals Montreal did get by him, both tallies coming off sloppy giveaways that sent a Canadiens attacker in with space to operate. Even so, Stolarz wiped the slate clean and focused on simply coming up with the saves his side needed when they needed them most — and he found them late in the third as Toronto protected their one-goal lead, No. 41 turning away chances from Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield late.

“Obviously Iâ€d like one or two of those goals back, but I mean, itâ€s going to happen. Itâ€s a long season,†Stolarz said of his own performance Wednesday night. “Youâ€ve got to have a short-term memory. Just going out there and focusing on the next shot. 

“I thought I was pretty calm in there, just tried to control the rebounds. Anything I didnâ€t, the guys were there for me.â€

If nothing else, the Maple Leafs can take solace in the fact that they were able to salvage a win from this type of performance, undoing a night of largely disjointed, messy sequences with a few moments of quality. Berube will take it.

“A lot of good things, and there’s stuff that we’ve got to work on, obviously — but, you know, we did a good enough job to win the game,†the coach said. Still, itâ€s clear where things went awry in this one, and what needs to be cleaned up next time out.

“I think itâ€s decision-making more than anything, and understanding the speed of the game,†Berube said Wednesday. “You practise and you play these exhibition games — the level of intensity, the speed of the game, is not there. Then all of a sudden youâ€re in a regular season game, first game of the year, and youâ€re playing the Montreal Canadiens — who are fast. And theyâ€re on you.

“You donâ€t have much time. So youâ€ve got to make split decisions, and we were slow in our decision process, whether it was moving it from the D to the forwards, the forwards just making a quick decision on what they were going to do with the puck, even getting pucks deep. Itâ€s a second here or there, then itâ€s a turnover.â€

Itâ€s early, of course. Thereâ€s rust to be shaken off, chemistry to be developed, and a rounding into form that will come as the season fully shifts into gear. And while much of the squad turned in an uneven opening-night performance, Stolarz saw something to follow in the steady play from the groupâ€s grinders.

“Kudos to that fourth line — they battled,†the netminder said. “I think they understand their role and they know what they have to do. Come playoff time, thatâ€s how youâ€re going to have to play, and for them to come out, Game 1, and make an impact like that, I think it kind of sets the tone for the rest of the year. 

“I loved their tenacity on the forecheck, loved the way they were sacrificing their bodies — Stevie (Lorentz) had a big block there in the first as well. I think having that two-way game to start the year just sets the tone for everyone else.â€

Source link