The Toronto Maple Leafs are already making a change for their second game of the season.
They won’t have Sergei Bobrovsky starting as their goalie. Instead, Anthony Stolarz is getting the nod.
Toronto will be looking for its first win of the season after a season-opening 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
On Wednesday night, they’ll take on the New York Islanders, again at home in Toronto.
The task of their victory will depend on Stolarz keeping pucks out of the net.
Why is Anthony Stolarz Starting, not Sergei Bobrovsky?
More than anything, Stolarz gets the nod because of the schedule.
The NHL gave the Maple Leafs a back-to-back to begin the season, which is unfortunate but also made this pretty much a foregone conclusion. Their loss to the Canadiens was on Tuesday night, and they come right back to play the Islanders on Wednesday.
Rarely during the season will a team play a goalie back-to-back during the season, especially an older goalie like Bobrovsky.
Certainly not at this point in the season, though, which is why Stolarz comes in.
Bobrovsky also wasn’t super sharp on Tuesday night. He faced 24 shots and saved 21 of them — 87.5%.
Stolarz starting isn’t any kind of major statement. The Maple Leafs sought out Bobrovsky this offseason to bring aboard a guy who has been the netminder for multiple Stanley Cup titles.
But at least for the second game of a back-to-back, Bobrovsky will take a break and Stolarz will step in.
Anthony Stolarz Stats
Stolarz was the goalie the Maple Leafs chose to keep this offseason. As they pursued Bobrovsky, there was no chance they’d keep both Stolarz and Joseph Woll, too.
They eventually traded Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers, so Stolarz got to stick around and try to prove he deserves playing time.
A season ago, Stolarz was 10-10-3 in goal. He had an 89.3 save percentage and a 3.28 goals against average.
He was a split-time player each of the two years before that, too, but he actually led the NHL in save percentage with the Panthers in 2023-24 (92.5) and 2024-25 with the Leafs (92.6).
Stolarz backed up Bobrovsky on those champion Florida Panthers in 2023-24, so they’re a duo that’s comfortable with each other already — and at least the last time they were together, both played quite well.
Toronto will be hoping those vibes repeat themselves as the Leafs plug Stolarz into the net for the first time this season on Wednesday night.
Islanders Goalie
The Islanders are expected to start Ilya Sorokin on Wednesday night.
He was the first goalie off the ice at morning skate, which is the usual indication of the starter.
Sorokin has spent his entire NHL career with the Isles and had a 90.6 save percentage in 2025-26. Now he tries to get New York off to a winning start as Wednesday is their season opener.
Why Anthony Stolarz is Playing Goalie for Maple Leafs Tonight, not Sergei Bobrovsky