TORONTO -- Joseph Woll will start in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs and veteran Matt Murray will dress as the backup in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).
Woll played the final 29:46 of Toronto’s 5-4 victory in Game 1 on Monday after starter Anthony Stolarz came to the Toronto bench at 10:12 of the second period and began vomiting. Stolarz subsequently was taken out of the arena on a stretcher and evaluated at a hospital before being released and joining his teammates at the Ford Performance Centre, the team’s practice facility, on Tuesday.
Prior to leaving the game, Stolarz was involved in a collision with Panthers center Sam Bennett, who made contact with the goalie's head.
Asked after Toronto’s morning skate Wednesday about how Stolarz was doing, coach Craig Berube replied: “He’s fine. He’s recovering. He’s doing OK.”
Berube would not reveal what Stolarz was recovering from and also would not say whether Stolarz would be able to return at some point during this best-of-7 series.
“Anything’s possible,” Berube said. “I don’t really have an answer for you on that right now.”
Woll is 4-2 with a 2.12 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in eight career games (four starts) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He finished with 17 saves in Game 1.
Berube said Murray was picked to back up Woll because he is far more experienced than Dennis Hildeby, the Maple Leafs' other option in goal. Murray won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Florida, meanwhile, will get a boost with the return of defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who completed a two-game suspension for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in Game 4 of the first round.
Ekblad will slot back onto the Panthers' top defensive pair alongside Gustav Forsling.
“I think when I’m being physical and confident and maintaining good gap control throughout the ice, that’s when I’m playing a good game,” Ekblad said. “And that’s what the focus is.”
Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series own an all-time series record of 531-249 (.681), including a 6-2 mark during the first round of the 2025 postseason.
Here is a breakdown of Game 2:
Panthers: With Ekblad back on the top shutdown pair, open ice will be even harder to come by for the Maple Leafs' top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies. Knies, of course, scored the eventual winning goal on a breakaway in Game 1, so expect Ekblad to take on the responsibility to not let Toronto’s biggest threats get behind them. Berube does have the last change, but Florida coach Paul Maurice is one of the best in the game at getting the matchups he wants on the road.
Maple Leafs: Toronto got off to a fast start in Game 1, punctuated by forward William Nylander's goal 33 seconds into the game. In the first 10 minutes, the Maple Leafs were the team that pressed and caused turnovers in the offensive zone, a forechecking game plan the Panthers usually employ. Indeed, Toronto gave Florida a dose of its own medicine Monday and will attempt to do the same in Game 2.
Number to know: .950. Woll’s save percentage in the four previous Stanley Cup Playoff games he has started, stopping 113 of the 119 shots he has faced.
What to watch for: Berube has preached to his team there should be no retaliation against Bennett for the incident involving Stolarz, and that the best revenge is winning. Will his players heed his advice? Or will emotions take over, leading to the Maple Leafs taking undisciplined penalties?
What they are saying
“Are they bringing their skates?” -- Maurice, in response to how the reaction of Toronto fans to Bennett at Scotiabank Arena might affect his play.
“It’s different, obviously, with each goalie, but I don’t think a lot of adjustments need to be made. As to the goalies handling the puck, there are certain things we might do a bit differently with Woll.” -- Berube on what changes in style of play might be needed with Woll in net rather than Stolarz.
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, A.J. Greer, Uvis Balinskis
Injured: None
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Bobby McMann -- Max Domi -- Pontus Holmberg
Steven Lorentz -- Scott Laughton -- Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Matt Murray
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov, Dennis Hildeby
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (undisclosed)
Status report
Samoskevich will return after being a healthy scratch the past three games; he will replace Greer, a forward. ... Balinskis, a defenseman, will come out.
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report
