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Like all NHL teams good and bad, Toronto’s Maple Leafs are not a perfect team with a metric. Several nights, they look like drummers of the world, but other nights, they are a disappointment, The way they were in a 2-1 defeat against Vancouver cannucks SATURDAY.
That said, the leafs obtained a major boost this week When goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz returned to action against Seattle Kraken Thursday in a 3-1 victory against Seattle. Stolarz had been sidelined since December 12 with a knee injury that required surgery, but against Kraken, he stopped 26 of 27 shots, improving his safeguard percentage this season at 0.929. The 31-year-old Stolarz now has a record this year 10-5-2-and its safeguard percentage leads all the NHL goalkeepers who played in 15 games or more this season.
Combine the magic of Stolarz with the stellar game of young Joseph Woll (record 19-11-0, .909 SP), and you have a leaf team which probably has the best punch 1-2 in the NHL. There are better guards than Woll and Stolarz – Connor Hellebuyck from Winnipeg and Igor Shesterkin from New York Rangers, for example – but in terms of high -end goalkeeper depth, Toronto could well have the upper tandem on the planet .
Stolarz and Woll are essentially assurance for each other, and while the Maple Leafs push for the first place in the Atlantic division, their guards give them a solid blow to win the match and the match. The Leafs are currently at three ranking points behind the panthers, but Toronto has two games in Florida while the teams arrive at the 4 nations break.
The leafs must be concerned about the tampa bay lightning, which are now two points behind them for the second in the Atlantic, but Toronto has the equality break if the bolts even pull with them. Thus, the leafs are in good position to challenge Florida for first place in the division. And their goalkeeper is probably their greatest strength as they sail in the rest of the regular season.
Injuries can always be a factor at any time, but the Maple Leafs have a decent depth beyond Stolarz and Woll, with the current guards of Ahl Matt Murray and Dennis Hildeby having both played the NHL matches this season. But if the hockey gods smile on the Leafs and offer them good health the rest of the way this year, Woll and Stolarz will certainly be the best duo of the league. And this is something that you cannot say of any Leafs teams in recent memory. Of course, Toronto recently had Jekyll and-Hyde artists like Murray and Ilya Samsonov, but Stolarz and Woll are stricter, with better fundamental principles than for anyone who was in a net for buds.
Defense has been considered the biggest area of concern for Leafs this season, but with a largely improved group of flashers, the Toronto game in its own area gives them one of the most improved NHL defenses. But their goalkeeper deserves credit for bailout the bodies “d” more than a few times. Woll and Stolarz have absolutely delivered their end of things, and if the Leafs will have a race in the Stanley Cup qualifiers, their goalkeepers will have to be at least as good as they have been at this point.
But finally, the guards of Toronto seem capable of achieving great things. Stolarz and Woll were great, and the Leafs benefit greatly because of this.
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