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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was hospitalized after taking a puck to the throat during warmups before his start against the Ottawa Senators.
Stolarz was scratched from Saturday’s contest and taken off the ice, where he went to the hospital as a precaution. He received some shots and was later released, according to NHL.com.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube did not have an update for Stolarz after his team fell to the Senators, 5-2, although he believed he would meet the team on their flight back to Toronto.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz spits out his water during the second period of an NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 15, 2026 at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, MN. (Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)
The moment was captured by Sportsnet, where a shot was taken by a Maple Leafs player as normal warm-ups. But it caught Stolarz in the worst place – right between his pads and mask.
Stolarz quickly skated out of the net and he eventually entered the Maple Leafs’ tunnel before exiting the arena.
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William Nylander was the one who threw the shot on net that hit Stolarz in the neck, and he talked about the freak incident after the loss.
“Obviously, it’s really hard to see that happen,” he said, according to the New York Post. “I mean, I always come in and shoot the puck in the glove and this one just came off a little bit to the left and I hit him in the neck. So obviously I was worried about him, but I’ve been texting with him. So he seems to be OK.”
Anthony Stolarz of the Toronto Maple Leafs warms up before playing against the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on March 12, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Mark Blinch/NHLI)
On the other hand, Joseph Woll took over in net, and he did not have the best outing, with five goals allowed.
Stolarz, the 32-year-old New Jersey native, owns an 8-9-3 record and .894 save percentage over 22 games with the Maple Leafs. This is his second season with Toronto after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky with the Florida Panthers in 2024.
Stolarz was part of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup-winning squad that year.
He went on to sign a four-year, $15 million deal with the Maple Leafs in September 2025 despite having knee surgery that kept him out for 34 games during the 2024–25 campaign.
Anthony Stolarz of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on during a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on March 4, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)
Unfortunately, the injury bug continued this year as Stolarz was forced to miss 33 games due to an upper body injury earlier in the season.
It’s been a tough season for the Maple Leafs, who are on the outside looking in with just 11 games left to play. They have 71 points, sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with the Panthers.
