Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz hospitalized after puck hits throat in freak warmup incident
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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 precautionary measure. He received some images and was later released, per NHL.com.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube didn’t have an update for Stolarz after his squad fell to the Senators, 5-2, though he believed he would be meeting the team for their flight back to Toronto.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz spits out his water during the second period of a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and 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 like normal warmups. But it caught Stolarz in the worse spot – right between his pads and mask.
Stolarz quickly skated out of net, and he eventually went into the Maple Leafs’ tunnel before heading out of the arena.
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William Nylander was the one who threw the shot on net that hit Stolarz in the throat, and he spoke about the freak incident after the loss.
“Obviously, it’s really tough to see that happen,” he said, per 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, I was obviously worried for 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 the Scotiabank Arena on March 12, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Mark Blinch/NHLI)
In turn, Joseph Woll took over in net, and he didn’t 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 held him to 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 New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on March 4, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)
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Unfortunately, the injury bug continued this year, as Stolarz was forced to miss 33 games due to an upper-body injury earlier this season.
It’s been a rough 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.
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