Anthony Stolarz reveals what he worked on during 4 Nations Face-Off break

By Tushaar Kuthiala

Modified Feb 23, 2025 16:14 GMT

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Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz spoke out about his practice routine during the midseason break for the Four Nations Face-Off. Stolarz, who has missed 24 games this season due to a knee injury that required surgery, said he spent the 12-day break sharpening his game sense. Leafslatest posted quoted from the goalie on X (formerly Twitter).

“Tracking the puck—that’s probably the biggest thing for me" Stolarz said. "If I can see it more often than not, I’m going to stop it. Just getting the body moving, getting into the routine—having the four days off before this game (Carolina) was huge. I was really prepared for this game."

The Maple Leafs players returned to practice on Tuesday and resumed their NHL season with a 6-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Stolarz started in goal and made 31 saves.

Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg had two goals and an assist. Team captain Auston Matthews scored an empty-netter to take his tally for the franchise to 389. He is tied in second place for goals scored with Darryl Sittler. Only Mats Sundin, with 420 goals, is above them for the Maple Leafs.

Speaking to the media after the game, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said he liked that his team scored early goals but warned them against letting opponents back into the game.

“In the third, I’d like to see our team a little bit more aggressive up ice and not backing in so much,” Berube said via NHL.com

Anthony Stolarz plays his part as Leafs hold off Hurricanes’ charge

Stolarz saw his team go up 4-0 on the night, but a third-period charge by the Hurricanes saw them claw three goals back. At 4-3, Carolina pulled their goalie for a man advantage only to see Matthews and Holmberg send the puck into the empty net twice in the final two minutes of the game.

“I’m just worried about stopping the next puck,” Stolarz said via NHL.com. “At the end of the day it’s my job to get out there and try to make the saves. Just a couple unfortunate bounces. … It’s part of the game, it is what it is but the way we battled back and didn’t really fold under the pressure and were able to close it out, it’s a huge two points for us.”

Toronto has back-to-back games on the calendar in the first weekend after the break. According to Craig Berube, Joseph Woll will relieve Stolarz in goal for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks.