Anthony Stolarz reveals who is to blame after another high-scoring loss

Anthony Stolarz took the majority of the blame for Toronto's loss to the Utah Mammoth, and after two weak goals cost them the game - it lies on the goaltender.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were coming into Tuesday's game with a wave of momentum after a strong 6-3 win over the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche. They didn't capitalize however, as the Mammoth came out firing and didn't let up and while the Buds made a valiant comeback effort, it wasn't enough.

But it very well may have been had Anthony Stolarz not given up two pretty weak goals that snuffed out Toronto's momentum. First, he was unable to squeeze a long shot from Dylan Guenther, then just couldn't squeeze a Mackenzie Weegar wrist shot that squeaked by:

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Those are two goals you'd love to get back, and for Stolarz it was something that he absolutely admits was the cause of Toronto's loss.

Stolarz takes the blame for Toronto's 5-4 heartbreaker vs. Utah

Speaking to reporters post-game, Stolarz shouldered the blame for the loss and knows he should have made a few more saves, though promised to be better next time around:

Obviously, I put us in a tough situation. You know, probably want two or three of those goals back ... I know I got better & will be better in the future.

Up until last night, Stolarz had looked pretty darn good, and he was responsible for two of Toronto's three wins this year. He finally felt like the goalie we saw in 2024-25, and even in a backup role that was going to be a huge advantage for the Maple Leafs.

But tonight's performance had a lot of people question what went wrong, and of course injury issues immediately sprang to mind, but Stolarz revealed there was nothing he was dealing with, and it was just a rough night on his part.

Stolarz wasn't great, but neither was the defense

Honestly, you can blame Stolarz because sure, he should have had those goals saved, but at the same time - everyone has an off night. His defensive help wasn't exactly on point either (no pun intended) and the loss of Chris Tanev really hurt the team overall, and much like last year it was a long slog in their own zone.

Utah's first goal came courtesy of Daniil But, and while it was a gorgeous shot, he also was able to easily blow by Morgan Rielly who had no shot of catching him. Oliver Ekman-Larsson didn't have an amazing game, Darren Raddysh was fine - though he deserves blame for passing up a wide-open slap shot in the slot on the power play.

Marshall Rifai came in but played less than 10 minutes and didn't do anything egregiously good or bad, and Jake McCabe was Jake McCabe. The best defender all night was Troy Stecher, who put his body on the line at every turn, was crucial on the PK, and actually felt like he was defending in Toronto's zone, not just floating around.

It was a rough game from the back end, and if it weren't for the stars keeping them close it could have been a lot worse. You aren't going to win 'em all, but this is a game where two points were easily obtainable.

It's too bad their goalie couldn't make a save in order to do so.

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