The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first Saturday night game of the new season was not one to write home about.
After a strong start that saw them get out to a 2-0 first-period lead thanks to some depth scoring, it all went downhill from there.
A Detroit Red Wings team coming off a terrible home opener was motivated to bounce back and thrashed the Maple Leafs the rest of the way en route to a 6-3 win.
While it’s still so early in the season, it wasn’t a pretty performance from Toronto, and they left their goaltender out to dry most of the night.
Anthony Stolarz did all he could to keep his team within striking distance, but it just wasn’t enough, and he let them know that when speaking to the media postgame. Leafs Latest shared the clip with his comments on X (formerly Twitter).
“At the end of the day, it’s a lesson for us. You know, we have to come to play every night. And it doesn’t matter who you’re playing; teams in this league are good, and anyone can beat anyone on any given night,” Stolarz said.
🚨🎙️ Anthony Stolarz on the Leafs away loss to Detroit:
“At the end of the day It’s a lesson for us. We have to come to play every night. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
🎥: @MapleLeafs #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/km3UvkXt2K
— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) October 12, 2025
Understandable to hear Stolarz feel that way, given his team was drastically outshot and particularly undisciplined in the third period.
The 31-year-old was busy in the losing effort, stopping 29 of the 33 shots he faced, seeing his record fall to 1-1-0 on the campaign.
Rematch on Monday
Perhaps the best thing for Anthony Stolarz and the Toronto Maple Leafs is that they have an opportunity to get revenge for Saturday’s loss less than 48 hours later.
This time, the Red Wings will come to Toronto for an afternoon affair at Scotiabank Arena, where the Maple Leafs have had plenty of success in recent years.
Stolarz let it be known that the group didn’t show up to play on Saturday night, potentially taking a lesser opponent lightly. You have to expect that it will result in a much better effort on Monday as the Buds look to get back over .500 on the new season.
