Fiery Stolarz embracing chance to be Leafs go-to goalie

The Maple Leafs held a media availability at Ford Performance Centre before travelling to Ottawa on Wednesday. 

Before the series started, Anthony Stolarz made a prediction about the first playoff Battle of Ontario since 2004.

"It is going to be a bloodbath," the Leafs goalie declared after his team locked up first place in the Atlantic Division and assured a showdown with the wildcard Ottawa Senators. 

So, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that, after getting run into by Senators forward Ridly Greig in Game 1, Stolarz exacted his pound of flesh in Game 2. 

"I was just caught up in the heat of the battle," Stolarz said. "You’re in the heat of the moment."

With the Leafs killing a penalty in the second period, Stolarz delivered a push, a forearm shiver and then a slash to Greig before knocking the 22-year-old to the ice when he tried to skate through his crease to get back to the bench. 

"I was just trying to battle in front of the net," Greig told reporters in Ottawa. "He wasn’t having it. I love the compete. It was good." 

"I wouldn’t go after Stollie if I was him," Leafs defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson warned with a grin. "He’s a big guy."

Stolarz, who insisted he had no idea which Senator he was battling with on the play, was penalized for interference. Greig got two minutes for roughing. 

"He's just protecting his crease," Leafs coach Craig Berube said, "which I don't have a problem with."

"I didn’t see the roughing by Ridly," Senators coach Travis Green said. "I think Stolarz is a fiery guy."

Not every goalie is like this. 

"When push comes to shove, you know, I try to step away from anything like that," Senators netminder Linus Ullmark told reporters. "It’s not a part of me. It’s not a part of my game."

Trying to make the opposing goalie uncomfortable is a big part of playoff hockey and Stolarz expected the Senators to look to get in his kitchen. 

"It’s no secret that I’m a big guy," the 6-foot-6, 243-pound New Jersey native said. "I can see over people. They’re going to throw their bodies around at me and it’s just up to me to just fight through the screens and just see the puck."

Stolarz is seeing the puck just fine right now. He's turned aside 57 of 61 shots to win his first two Stanley Cup playoff starts. The 31-year-old has waited a long time to be the go-to guy for a team in the postseason. 

"This is what you live for," he said in a jubilant dressing room after Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win. "I like to have fun out there. I like to enjoy the moment with everyone on the team." 

Stolarz led the NHL with a .926 save percentage during the regular season while playing a career-high 34 games. He's now won 10 straight starts dating back to mid-March.

Whether Stolarz can handle the grind and sustained intensity of playoff hockey remains to be seen, but right now he's providing the Leafs an edge in net. At the other end, Ullmark has allowed nine goals on 45 shots (.800 save percentage). 

"Every game is a new beast to tame in a way," the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner said. "You can't really think that last game is going to be the same thing as today's game. Every game is a new opportunity to prove yourself."

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Greig, who was penalized for a high cross-check on John Tavares in Game 1, is emerging as public enemy No. 1 in Toronto. 

"I don’t spend too much time on social media so I could care less," he said. 

The Lethbridge, Alta. native seems quite comfortable in the playoff hockey environment. 

"I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun playing hockey so just enjoying it," Greig said of his first two postseason games in the NHL. "The compete’s certainly a lot of fun."

And Greig certainly has the attention of the Leafs. 

"He's a good player," said Berube. "I mean, he's a competitor. He's got a lot of good traits, hockey traits, you know, in my opinion. You've got to play him hard. You've just got to keep playing. You've got to play him hard, and he's going to do what he does. You can't retaliate. You know, it's important not to retaliate, But, at the same time, we've got to protect, too. We've got to protect our goalie, and we've got to be strong at our net and not allow people to come in there and get involved with our goalie. That's important for sure."

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Will Berube stick with the same lineup for Game 3?

"Yeah, probably," the coach said. "We'll see. Still thinking about things and what we can do maybe to improve, get better. We'll see. I haven't made my mind up yet on that."

Nick Robertson played a team-low nine minutes and 36 seconds and took a costly high-sticking penalty in the second period. 

"You really got to manage your stick," said Berube. "His stick got a little high and caught a guy in the face, and you go to the box. So it's just discipline, right? You got to have him control your stick. That's definitely, you know, refs are calling that all day. Whether your stick's in the guy's hands or you slash a guy or whatever, they're going to call that stuff. That's 100 per cent for sure they're calling that stuff. So, control your stick. You got to control your stick."

Robertson took five minors during the final 13 games he played in the regular season. 

Max Pacioretty, Ryan Reaves and David Kampf are the extra forwards on the Leafs roster. 

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The Leafs stayed off the ice completely on Wednesday. It was a rare day off for Max Domi, who has been putting in plenty of extra work with Patrick O'Sullivan of the team's player development staff lately. 

After Monday's practice, for example, Domi stayed out late to work with O'Sullivan and Tavares. 

"Credit his drive to continue to sharpen up, find different ways to be a little better, a little sharper, and execute just one or two more plays," Tavares said. "It’s funny how that can make the difference sometimes. It goes to show in overtime."

Domi delivered the overtime winner for the Leafs on Tuesday night on a shot from the slot. He worked on shots from the same area of the ice on Tuesday morning when he was the first player on the ice at the team's optional skate. 

Tavares believes the extra work, which has been going on for more than a month, helped Domi be so calm and poised in that key moment. 

"Sully's great, JT's great," said Domi, who is reluctant to discuss his own game, "but that stuff, we'll keep that in-house."

Domi struggled to score during the regular season, finishing with eight goals in 74 games. Berube and teammates have consistently urged the pass-first Domi to be more selfish. 

"Fun to see him shoot for once," cracked winger Calle Jarnkrok with a big smile. "He’s a hard worker. He came through for us yesterday. It’s a good confidence booster for him."

"He’s worked his ass off all year for us," said Stolarz. "Hopefully it’s the start of something big for him this playoffs."

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Before his magical moment in overtime, Domi was having a tough night. His line was on the ice when Ottawa tied the game in the third period. Domi couldn't track down a reverse pass from Ekman-Larsson behind the Leafs net, which led to an Adam Gaudette deflection goal. 

"I don’t think that that’s Max’s fault," said Ekman-Larsson. "I think I have to take the blame for that. It’s probably not a play that I should make at that time of the game."

The veteran blueliner, who lifted the Stanley Cup with Florida last season, used the moment to create a moment of levity amid the tension of a tied game. 

"I told him, ‘Hey, you better go and score now,'" Ekman-Larsson said. "It was nice. That’s what this group does. We back up each other. We stick to our game plan and it paid off last night. It’s fun to see Maxy getting a goal there and a big one for us."

Instead of Domi or Ekman-Larsson wearing the goat horns, it was Drake Batherson. The Senators forward turned the puck over before failing to make a proper backcheck on the play leading to the winning goal. 

“You live and you learn," said Batherson, one of the many playoff rookies on the Senators. "You make a mistake and you learn from it. And sometimes it’s the hard way. Obviously it cost us the game ... but you gotta move on, and move onto the next one. But definitely wish I could have that one back to say the least.”

Green made a point of talking to Batherson about what happened right after the game. 

"It can eat you up," the coach said. "Want to make sure he doesn’t dwell on it. It goes back to a lot of lessons we’ve learned this year. You can’t live in the past. You can learn from the past and live in the present. When you make a mistake that you don’t like, and it ends up in the back of your net, it doesn’t feel good."

Green pointed out there's no guarantee that the Senators go on to win the game even if Domi doesn't score. 

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When the Leafs play in Ottawa there's usually a lot of blue in the stands at Canadian Tire Centre. What will the atmosphere be like on Thursday? 

"Our fans are everywhere," said Jarnkrok. "It’s always nice to see them in the stands. It’ll be the same tomorrow."

"It’s a very passionate fanbase," said Ekman-Larsson. "It means a lot that we have them in the stands pretty much every night and cheering for us."

Ottawa is hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2017 and the Senators have done what they can to ensure tickets end up in the hands of their fans. 

"I'm not sure yet," said Lorentz when asked what he expects. "I don't know how many Leaf fans are going to be allowed in the building."

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Leafs lines in Game 2: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Lorentz - Laughton - Jarnkrok

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson

Stolarz starts
Woll