Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Anthony Stolarz had a tough night between the pipes for the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

During the Maple Leafs' Nov. 8 matchup against the Boston Bruins, Stolarz allowed four goals on just 19 shots, which equates to a .789 save percentage.

Due to his struggles against the Bruins, Stolarz was pulled by the Maple Leafs after David Pastrnak scored at the 4:41 mark of the second period to give Boston a 4-2 lead. It was the second goal Stolarz allowed early in the second period, too, as Mikey Eyssimont also scored on him at the 2:15 mark

Stolarz entered the Maple Leafs' contest against the Bruins with a 6-4-1 record, a .895 save percentage, and a 3.11 goals-against average in 11 games. Overall, the former Flyer has had a bit of an underwhelming start to the season for his standards with the Maple Leafs, and this start has only added to that.

However, when looking at Stolarz's recent seasons, there is clear reason to believe that he can bounce back for Toronto. The former Flyer had the best save percentage in the NHL both in 2023-24 (.925 SV%) and 2024-25 (.926 SV%), so it would not be surprising in the slightest if he heats back up as the campaign rolls on. 

Stolarz was selected by the Flyers with the 45th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. From there, he played two seasons with the Flyers, where he posted a 14-6-4 record, a .911 save percentage, and a 2.86 goals-against average. 

The Nashville Predators drop their sixth one-goal game of the season in a 5-4 result to the Dallas Stars on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. 

The Predators had a lead in the third period, but two defensive breakdowns allowed the Stars to tie the game and take the lead. The goals were 47 seconds apart. 

 "We talked about it at length with the mental fortitude and the mistakes at the wrong time," head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We fall asleep on the two goals. We were in a good spot. Stammer (Stamkos) 
had an unbelievable shot for a power play goal and it puts us in a good spot. Then we have two major, major breakdowns. It's hard to overcome." 

Luke Evangelista jump-started the Predators' offense in the first period to tie the game 1-1. In the second period, Nicolas Hague scored his first goal as a Predator, tying the game at two. 27 seconds later, Filip Forsberg gave Nashville a 3-2 lead. 

Giving away the lead again in the third period, Steven Stamkos scored on the power play with a one-timer to take the lead back. Dallas responded with two quick goals and closed out on defense for the win.

Here are three takeaways from the Predators loss to the Stars. 

Nearly winning again 

The Predators haven't been blown out too many times this season. They've lost by three goals or more just five times this season, meaning that the Predators have won or had a real chance to win in 12 of their games this season. 

The loss was another example of a mental error costing Nashville points. Montreal had two late goals from Caufield and Jonathan Marchessault's blocked empty net shot. Vancouver and Utah, it was Nashville giving their opponent an inch and then taking a mile to score a game-winner in overtime. 

Saturday, the defense broke down midway through the third period for less than two minutes. 

Colin Blackwell is walking into the Predators' zone untouched and going behind the net before passing it out to a wide-open Adam Erne in the slot for the goal.

Nearly a minute later, Mikko Rantanen stretches passes to Wyatt Johnston entering the zone, and he quickly finds Sam Steel on the weak side for the goal. It's two situations in which the Predators were chasing the puck rather than following the play. 

Stamkos pointed out that this was a game in which the offense was clicking and that it was a defensive lapse that proved costly. Throughout the early season, the Predators' defense has been the stable of the two. 

"The games we play well defensively, we can seem to get that extra goal to put us over the hump and tonight we score four, give up five," Stamkos said. "It's obviously frustrating when you're in as many games as we are and you're losing those by slim margins of errors."  

Unable to stay out of box

Over the last few years, Nashville has finished among the most penalized teams in the league, following that "Smashville" identity. However, given the current struggles, penalties are becoming a serious issue. 

The Predators went to the box five times, three of which were in the first period. While the penalty unit was efficient once again, killing 4 of 5 penalties, the odd-man situations put the Predators on the back foot. 

"We took a lot of penalties tonight, which taxes a lot of guys," Stamkos said. "They're a good team, have a good power play and that gave them a lot of momentum. We clawed back after a tough first period to make a game of it." 

Instead of looking to score, the Predators are spending most of their time trying to prevent their opponent from finding the back of the net. Nashville was outshot 7-4 in the first period, but still managed to leave the first 20 minutes with a 1-1 tie. 

Dallas' penalties started to pile up in the third period, seeing Stamkos convert on the one-timer opportunity for the lead. However, the unit is still struggling, even when it finds the back of the net. 

Blackwell took a tripping penalty with four minutes left in the game, while the Predators were down a goal, and they could not score. On the night, Nashville's power play was 1-for-4. It's an improvement, but it's still not enough. 

"We weren't good enough from the start. Too many costly mistakes," Hague said. 

Annunen still winless on year 

The Predators' backup goalie, Justus Annunen, is still winless in the early season, sitting at 0-3-1. He started in all four of the games.

Three of the four games were decided by a goal. A power-play goal decided a loss to the Stars on Oct. 26 in the third period. The overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, was on a controversial rebound goal with the net dislodged. 

In the rematch against the Stars, it was two quick goals that prevented Annunen from picking up that coveted first win of the season. 

He's faced 78 shots and made 68 saves for a goals-against average of 3.70 and a save percentage of .872. Annunen hasn't been tested as much as starter Juuse Saros, who leads the league in total saves and is second in total shots faced. 

Up next: Nashville Predators at New York Rangers on Monday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. CST 

As the NHL moves deeper into its 2025-26 regular season, there’s a youth movement at the top of the league’s scoring rankings. Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard had a goal and four points in Friday’s win over the Calgary Flames to give the 20-year-old Bedard eight goals and 14 assists in 15 games and put him in second-place overall in the league with 22 points.

However, another dynamic young star had a terrific performance Friday night, and we are talking about San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, who had a goal and two points in a 2-1 Sharks win over the Winnipeg Jets to give him nine goals and 14 assists in 15 games. The 19-year-old Celebrini, who is in his sophomore NHL season, is looking like he’s going to demolish his 2024-25 individual numbers of 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games. 

It’s no coincidence the Sharks have won five of their past seven games. Indeed, if you throw away their six-game losing streak to start the season, San Jose is 6-2-1 and now has a 6-6-3 record this year. They currently and surprisingly sit just two standings points out of a Stanley Cup playoff spot.

The Sharks haven’t been a playoff team since 2018-19, and in the six seasons that followed, San Jose hasn’t finished higher than sixth in their division, and they’ve finished seventh or eighth four times. So all this “being competitive” stuff has that new car smell to it.

But don’t take the Sharks’ recent strong stretch to mean Celebrini has done all the heavy lifting. Sophomore star winger Will Smith has also been on a point-producing tear, posting six goals and 14 points in 15 games. That’s a pace that would easily beat his rookie totals of 18 goals and 45 points in 74 games. 

Somehow, with a patchwork defense corps and an offense that ranks 10th-overall in the league at 3.33 goals-for per game, the Sharks have been able to win despite having the NHL’s third-worst defense (averaging 3.60 goals-against per game) and inconsistent goaltending. 

At its best, San Jose can overwhelm opposition defenders, and here’s the crazy part: Sharks GM Mike Grier has managed his draft and development teams so well, Celebrini and Smith are just two members, prominent as they are, of a Sharks future that includes top picks Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson. 

In addition, the Sharks also have not one, but two first-round draft picks and a pair of second-round picks at the end of this year. There could be an opportunity for Grier to convert some of those picks and prospects into a needle-moving veteran in a trade, but even if that fails to materialize, San Jose is going to get more high-end young players in its system. That will mean improvement from the Sharks as a whole.

So while Celebrini and Smith are currently thriving, what’s truly great about the Sharks is that they’re going to be very deep and talented in terms of players other than Celebrini and Smith. They are the franchise pieces for this organization, but Grier has painstakingly worked to improve his team’s overall depth, and that’s why there’s soon going to be a day when San Jose is regularly dominating its opponents.

Hall Of Famer Says Celebrini Deserves To Be On Canada's Olympic Team: 'I Just Hope He Gets A Chance'Joe Thornton, who is Macklin Celebrini's landlord again this year, has seen the No. 1 overall pick grow from an offensive-minded rookie who was a minus-31 last season to an all-around center who is leading the NHL in scoring.

That day may not be this season. In fact, it probably won’t be this season. But how refreshing it must be to be a Sharks fan right now. They've suffered through many ugly seasons, but the franchise now has foundational high-end talent for it.

And soon enough, San Jose will be a preferred destination for the league’s free agents. It’s all starting to fall into place for the Sharks, and Celebrini and Smith are leading the way with the type of performances you hope for in your young core components. They're worth the price of admission, and eventually, they're going to be strong challengers to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

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