The Toronto Maple Leafs got their 2024-25 regular season underway on Wednesday (Oct. 9) as they battled the Montreal Canadiens. In an unfortunate 1-0 loss, they dropped their record on the season to 0-1-0. Luckily, it’s only their first game of the season and there were some positives in the loss, but it’s still brutal to have lost their opening game of the campaign. In this article, we take a quick look at some takeaways from the first game of the season.
Goaltenders Stand Out, Stolarz Stops 26 of 27 Shots
While Joseph Woll was expected to start the first game of the season, an injury kept him out. Instead, the Maple Leafs went with Anthony Stolarz between the pipes, and it was a decision they benefitted from making. He stopped 26 of 27 shots and while he didn’t get the shutout, he looked calm and collected between the pipes while stopping several high-danger chances that the Habs had against him.
His ability to not let the one goal against rattle him isn’t a common asset for Maple Leafs goaltenders in recent seasons, so it’s good to see he has that confidence in his game. On the other side of the ice, Habs goaltender Sam Montembault stopped all 48 shots he faced, earning his first shutout of the season and giving the Canadiens a strong start to their campaign