Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was knocked out of Game 1 on a hit from Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett, who was not penalized and will face no supplemental discipline for the hit.
With his team on the power play, Bennett drove to the net with the puck, crashing into Stolarz. The Leafs netminder remained down on the ice. He skated to the bench in apparent discomfort but remained in the game. At the next stoppage in play, he headed off to be replaced by backup goaltender Joseph Woll.
“It just didn’t seem like he was feeling pretty great,” Woll said after the game.
There was no penalty called on the play by referees Chris Rooney and Graham Skilliter.
It’s been reported that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety will not issue any supplemental discipline to Bennett.
The Panthers forward spoke about the hit on Tuesday.
“[Stolarz] is a good friend of mine,” Bennett said. “I reached out to him. He responded.”
“Obviously, you never want to see an injury like that, but from my point of view, I’m just taking the puck to the net. I didn’t even know that I made contact until after. I’m on the power play trying to score. I’m taking the puck on the net. That’s really all there was to it.”
“When one of your starting goalies gets injured, people are going to be upset. Looking back at the video, I mean, really, the contact that was made was, in my opinion, it’s really just a bump. There was no forceful action. I’m trying to score. The last thing in my mind is thinking about blowing him in the head.”
TSN’s Craig Button agreed with the NHL Department of Player Safety’s decision to avoid supplemental discipline for the play:
Bennett will be back in the Panthers’ lineup for Game 2 on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. No word on whether Stolarz will be cleared to return.
