“Well, we’ve been a good home team this year for sure,” were the words of Paul Maurice after the Panthers suffered back-to-back defeats against the Maple Leafs in the first two games. However, the Panthers got back to their home turf and made a solid comeback to leave the series right in balance. For the Maple Leafs, it was a clear sign of a break in momentum as they couldn’t consolidate their lead and lost Game 3. Moreover, this isn’t the only bad news for them as their star player looks unlikely to return in this series.
Back in Game 1, the Maple Leafs’ goaltender, Anthony Stolarz, suffered a blow to his head from Sam Bennett’s elbow. The hit was so hard that he fell on the ice and subsequently had to be taken to a hospital for checkups. While there were hopes that Stolarz could make a comeback soon, his concussion diagnosis complicates things, and he could potentially miss the remainder of the series.
Speaking about Stolarz’s injury, the Maple Leafs head coach, Craig Berube, said, “(Stolarz) has not skated yet.” Earlier, Berube had updated that Stolarz was “progressing in the right direction,” but it looks like this series might be too much too soon for Stolarz.
This is a developing story…
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