Sam Bennett Under Fire After Controversial Hit on Stolarz Sparks Suspension Debate

With the Maple Leafs already in a good spot against the Panthers on Monday night, the team felt the wrath of perhaps a bit of a tee'd off Florida squad after the actions of Sam Bennett had everyone up in arms.

It was a clear shot to the head after Bennett tried to put the puck past Stolarz, and it was an obvious attempt at trying to get into the head (literally) of the Maple Leafs net minder.

It's not the first time that Bennett has caused a stir either, as he was the one who took out Matthew Knies in the 2023 postseason as well; so he certainly has his fingerprints all over some pretty egregious incidents involving the Maple Leafs.

It's a bit understandable from a competitive standpoint that Bennett would want to get Stolarz rattled, as the Panthers have had really no answer for him or the Maple Leafs at all.

Losing 4-1 already is a pretty rough way to get the series started for the defending champs and the frustrations are starting to boil over.

Good on Toronto for not being too retaliatory, and with the Panthers going to do everything in their power to make sure that Toronto is thrown off their game then it's going to be tough.

However, things are certainly not looking good for Toronto, as they removed Stolarz from the game as a precaution and have replaced him with Joseph Woll in the interim.

The Toronto faithful was thankful to have Woll and gave him a good ovation when it was announced.

It's not a good sign though for the Maple leafs as they heavily relied on Stolarz thus far in the playoffs, and him going down is almost certainly disastrous.

Toronto already avoided one serious injury when Jake McCabe went to the locker room but thankfully that was just an equipment malfunction. However, this doesn't look good in the slightest.

It's assumed that Stolarz will go through the necessary concussion protocols and make sure he is in the best shape possible going forward.

It's never a good sign that a player heads off, especially after a head shot.

Unfortunately it wasn't good news later on, as Stolarz fell ill immediately after; which is almost guaranteed to be a serious concussion.

Bennett needs to be punished for his actions, there is no excuse for this especially in the playoffs. Play hard, but not dirty.

Hopefully he learns his lesson, or will end up learning something one way or another.