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Anthony Stolarz discloses his POV into his "save of the year" candidate stop during 32-save night vs Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves in his team's 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. One of those saves is already generating buzz as a potential save of the year candidate.
Tampa Bay had six chances on the power play in the game and one of those opportunities was a 5-on-3 advantage where Nikita Kucherov took a shot that struck Stolarz's arm before bouncing behind the net. A Tampa Bay player was positioned at the side of the net for what looked like an easy tap-in goal.
However, Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit stopped the attempt with a clutch stick save. Then, Stolarz sprawled backward to cover the puck just before it could cross the goal line.
"I saw [Kucherov] come off, shoot the puck and kind of hit my arm in a funky spot and fell back, and their guy was at the side of the net, but Benny [Simon Benoit] did a great job of getting his stick and really not letting him tap it in," Stolarz explained after the game via NHL.com.
"I just tried my best to keep it out, you know, off the goal line, and try to get it out of there," he added.
William Nylander scored twice for Toronto, while Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty added the other Maple Leaf goals. Tampa received goals from Nicholas Paul and Brayden Point in the loss.
Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 shots. Backup goalie Jonas Johansson saved 14 shots after coming on.
Anthony Stolarz on Maple Leafs' 5-2 win over Lightning
Anthony Stolarz gave credit to his teammates for their defensive efforts by pointing out how well they blocked shots and managed to grab rebounds effectively.
"The guys did really good job of letting me see the release of the shot, they got some guys that can make some plays and fire the puck," Stolarz said. "So, I just tried my best to control the rebounds. But, the guys did a great job of eating pucks and having good sticks.
"And it's a really, really good effort for 60 minutes," he added.
The Toronto Maple Leafs travel to face the Columbus Blue Jackets next on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena, while the Tampa Bay Lightning will look to rebound when they take on the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center the same day.
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