There were several Hall of Fame players on hand for Friday’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, but Anthony Stolarz’s bare-handed save with less than five minutes remaining in the third period may have stole the show.
Stolarz, who is quickly emerging as a genuine Vezina candidate, made one of the best saves of the early season, grabbing the puck with his bare hand in a frantic sequence to preserve a 2-1 lead, before John Tavares scored an empty-netter — his second goal of the evening — to secure a 3-1 Maple Leafs victory.
Here’s the play in question:
No blocker? No problem. 😤
Anthony Stolarz makes a save with his bare hand! pic.twitter.com/772stpAZpk
— NHL (@NHL) November 9, 2024
“It’s kind of what it takes, right? Late in the game like that, I kind of got a lot of position,” Stolarz said. “I think (Lukas) Raymond was all alone in front there, the puck went to the other side and hit my pad and scramble mode from there. I think my blocker kind of got caught up on somebody’s skate or stick, and I kinda just saw the puck and stayed there and just grabbed it.”
I don’t know how the hell Anthony Stolarz kept that puck out, lost his blocker and moved really well laterally to keep Jonatan Berggren’s attempt off the line. In a margin of error game, Stolarz is providing real comfort in net rarely seen during this Leafs era.
— Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) November 9, 2024
Stolarz is 6-2-2 with a .930 save percentage to begin the season and he’s emerged as the Maple Leafs’ No. 1 goaltender to begin the year, with Joseph Woll operating in a backup role, while both goalies were initially expected to work in tandem. Woll dapped Stolarz up on the bench and seemingly couldn’t be more thrilled for his teammate.
The other Maple Leafs’ skaters deeply appreciated Stolarz’s save, which is quickly becoming a meme on Leafs Twitter.
“Stolie, he doesn’t need much equipment,” Tavares said post-game. “He was big enough, clearly. He was phenomenal again. Obviously, some big saves there again in the third. He was great.”
“It was a bit of a dog pile in there. Nice to see him come out with the puck in his hand. Good to see him come out of it with all five fingers,” Mitch Marner remarked.
the little shrug after
protect this man at all costs pic.twitter.com/KuwWLHWPen
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 9, 2024
Stolarz is quickly becoming a fan favourite and so far, Brad Treliving has hit a massive home run on the two-year, $5 million contract that the veteran goalie signed this summer, coming over from the Florida Panthers.
