The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 5-3 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in a game that featured all the hits – defensive breakdowns, less-than-stellar play from their starting goaltender, and a former Leaf scoring a crucial goal against them.

Anthony Stolarz was the starting goalie for the Maple Leafs on Saturday, and was pulled from the game after allowing four goals on 19 shots. There have certainly been worse starts that goalies haven’t been yanked for, but it was just as much a message to the rest of the team as it was for Stolarz.

Nonetheless, the goaltender was apologetic when speaking to the media following the game.

“I gotta bear down and make a save,” Stolarz said referring to his start. “Giving up the first two shots, not a good way to start the game. I liked our compete, guys came out after that and responded well, and we put a lot of pressure on them. But, you know, you give a team like that a couple freebies, it’s going to be difficult to come back.”

Dennis Hildeby made his season debut today after he was seemingly in line to start Sunday against the Hurricanes, and considering the circumstances, he played well. He allowed one goal on 20 shots for a .950 save percentage in the game and made some big saves to keep the team in it. Stolarz made sure that his tandem partner knew just that.

“He was awesome, I put him in a shit situation,” Stolarz said candidly. “So, he came in, handled it like a good pro, played well, and just tried to give him confidence on the bench. He’s an easy guy to talk to and he talks back to me on the bench, as well, so kudos to him for coming in, playing a solid game and giving us a chance.”

It’s been a tough start to the season for Stolarz, who has played more in this first stretch of games than he has in his career by this point of the season. He brushed off the idea that his struggles are due to fatigue and instead directed attention to cleaning up some of the lapses and improving the way he finds his game when he has them.

“The goalie is the last line of defence and your job is to step up and make a save. I didn’t do that tonight.”

The Maple Leafs will look to shake off the bad vibes and respond with a strong effort against the Hurricanes on Sunday. Since Stolarz didn’t play a full game, it’s possible he could be in line to start again and write his wrongs, but that’s yet to be revealed.

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