‘Get A Nice Rotation Going’: Anthony Stolarz Starts For Maple Leafs, Keep Rest Of Lineup Intact Against Bruins

The Toronto Maple Leafs are sticking with what’s worked since returning from the 4 Nations break.

After outscoring the opposition 11-5 in back-to-back games, Toronto’s only lineup change is adding Anthony Stolarz to replace Joseph Woll, who stopped 25 shots in Sunday’s win against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Stolarz stopped 32 shots in Saturday’s win over the Carolina Hurricanes, giving him 11 wins and a .928 save percentage through 19 games this season.

“It’s definitely nice that we can get a nice rotation going here like we have most of the year,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after Tuesday’s morning skate.

“I know Stolie was out for some time, but that’s a nice thing to have. Not wearing somebody out either and using both guys and they both played extremely well for us this year.”

Stolarz missed nearly two months after having a procedure on his knee to remove a loose body. He’s won both games since returning, stopping 58 of 62 shots against.

Toronto is atop the Atlantic Division heading into Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins. The Maple Leafs are one point up on the Florida Panthers for first, plus they’ve got a game in hand.

This will be Toronto’s final regular season game against the Bruins. Toronto has won two of three meetings, outscoring Boston 13-8. They have yet to lose to the Bruins in regulation.

Aside from the change in goal, Berube is running with the same group of players:

Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Robertson
Lorentz – Kampf – Steeves

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins

Since the break ended, Pontus Holmberg has been a productive player for the Maple Leafs, scoring three goals in his last two games. All four lines have produced, and Toronto’s defense has gotten some offense, as Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe scored in Chicago.

Two of Toronto’s 11 goals have come from the defense while seven are from their depth players. Auston Matthews and John Tavares scored the other three goals. It’ll be fascinating to see if the Maple Leafs can keep the offense going against a difficult Bruins team.

“It’s always a competitive game and a physical game,” Berube said. “Two teams that are big rivals and don’t like each other very much. A lot of emotion involved in the game.”

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