Stolarz pulled, Laughton hurt in Maple Leafs’ loss to Bruins

Contents of the article

The Maple Leafs had developed bad habits, their starting goalie admitted he wasn't good enough this season, and Scott Laughton was injured.

Contents of the article

Other than that, how was Saturday night for the Leafs?

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

A 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena erased all the good the Leafs had shown in their win over Utah three days earlier.

And there's more to come, as is always the case with the Leafs.

Three takeaways from the loss that ended the Leafs' three-game winning streak and one that cost them a playoff spot in the competitive Atlantic Division:

CARPENTER'S OWN

For the first time with the Leafs, Anthony Stolarz was ejected due to performance.

He left after allowing four goals on 19 shots, including a goal on each of the Bruins' first two shots of the game.

The Leafs will say Stolarz was great and did his job—Bobby McMann was the last one to go that route after the game—but that's not true.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Stolarz has a .889 save percentage in 12 games with a 6-5-1 record.

“It’s not up to par,” Stolarz said of his overall performance. “It seems like every now and then (and then) I give up one or two that you want back.

“For me it's the life of a goalkeeper. You've got to put it all behind you and just focus on the next game and hopefully get back to training and work on some things and tighten up your skills.”

Stolarz's problems began after he led the National Hockey League with a .926 save percentage last season despite not having a heavy workload in 34 games.

In Josef Woll's absence, Stolarz was asked to do more. Here's the concern: Stolarz said after the game that his body felt good and that he decided over the summer to prepare to play more frequently in the 2025-26 season. Additional work did not produce the desired results.

Contents of the article

The Bruins' Morgan Geekie and Viktor Arvidsson scored within 20 seconds of each other in the first period to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Early in the second period, the Bruins scored twice in two minutes, 26 seconds. The fourth goal was scored by David Pastrnak after he embarrassed Simon Benoit with his sounding board.

That's it for Stolarz. Dennis Hildeby came in as a replacement and stopped 19 of 20 shots. Only former Leafs prospect Frazier Minten beat him with three minutes remaining.

“First of all, I need to put in the effort and make the save,” Stolarz said. “Giving up the first two shots is not a good way to start the game. When you give a team like that a couple of freebies, it's not going to be easy to get back up.”

“(Hildeby) was great. I put him in a (tough) situation, but he came in and handled it like a real professional and played well.”

Contents of the article

Leafs coach Craig Berube hasn't said whether Stolarz or Hildeby will start Sunday night at home against the Carolina Hurricanes.

What does Berube think of Stolarz?

“We have a lot of good things about our team, but they're inconsistent, that's what I see,” Berube said.

Is there a reason why goaltending overall isn't as good as it was last season?

“I don’t feel like we’re as tight defensively as we were last year,” Berube said. “There are good stretches, but it’s not enough.”

Wall, meanwhile, stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced in a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies on Saturday night in the Lehigh Valley. It was Wall's first game action since returning to the Leafs after taking time off for personal reasons.

“He made some big saves when he needed to,” Marlies coach Jon Gruden told reporters in Pennsylvania. “I thought he looked really good.”

Contents of the article

DEFENSE MISTAKES KILL

The Leafs played well against the Mammoth on Wednesday after a solid third period led them to a win over Pittsburgh on Monday.

The game against the Bruins was not rescheduled. By the time the game ended, the Leafs had taken a season-high 39 shots on goal.

The Leafs' play of one step forward and one step back this season quickly devolved into constant hand-wringing for Berube. Injuries haven't helped, especially for stalwart defenseman Chris Tanev. This absence does not explain the disorganization in the defensive zone.

The Leafs are not very strong and, as Berube said, they are beating themselves.

“I’ve talked to you about this before,” Berube said. “It's frustrating.”

John Tavares said: “I don't think we're in a terrible position, but I certainly don't think we've maintained the expected level of play and our standards (we haven't been) as consistent as we would have liked at the start of the season. There's no reason to panic.”

Contents of the article

Perhaps not, since we are still in early November. However, points scored now will have the same meaning at the end of the season. With the Atlantic so tight, the Leafs can't afford to waste points.

Any message from Berube is not fully perceived. This should be cause for concern.

Of course, that wasn't the case for Minten, who was delighted to score against the team that drafted him.

“It was as good as it gets, very good,” Minten said. “We continue to build trust in (coach Marko Sturm) and these minutes.”

FAILURE LAWTON

Laughton left with an upper-body injury in the second period after being rocked by a hit from the 6-foot-7, 255-pound Bruins defenseman. Nikita Zadorov.

It was Laughton's second game since returning from a lower-body injury suffered in the preseason. He won't play Sunday, Berube said, but the coach didn't immediately know the extent of his injury.

No penalties were called in the game.

“I thought it was a head shot,” Berube said. “I need to look at this more closely.”

McMann stepped in and fought the larger Zadorov. Well done McMann for this, even if the loss of the scrap metal was a foregone conclusion.

“It wasn’t easy for Bobby to get in there and replace Loti,” Tavares said. “I think it was a hell of a lot of hard work on his part.

“I didn't see it, to be honest, but I don't like anything high, that's for sure. I know our bench didn't like it.”

[email protected]

X: @koshtorontosun

Contents of the article