In Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs’ second round, we saw a pretty heated moment when Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett made a controversial hit on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz. So, halfway through the second period, Bennett was charging toward the net during a power play when he ended up making contact with Stolarz, hitting him in the back of the head with his right arm.

After the hit, Stolarz looked pretty rough, even throwing up on the bench, and he was later taken to the hospital for a checkup. Also, there was no penalty for the collision during the game, and even after the match, the NHL DoPS didn’t make an announcement about it but it was later confirmed that they won’t be taking any measures against Bennett. And this got a certain reaction from a Maple Leafs star.

Anna Dua shared on X that “Scott Laughton when asked what the team’s response tonight should be to the Sam Bennett hit that took Anthony Stolarz out of the game: ‘To win.'” The Toronto Maple Leafs forward’s response shows a mature and disciplined mindset, highlighting that the team should keep their focus on their performance rather than on getting back at anyone.

Instead of getting caught up in emotional or physical retaliation that might throw them off their game or lead to penalties, Laughton’s comment suggests that the smartest way to respond to the Panthers — especially Bennett’s hit — is to keep their cool, follow their game plan, and focus on winning. The Leafs are really focused on the bigger picture of moving forward in the playoffs, not letting individual incidents throw them off track.

In past playoff runs, the Maple Leafs have had a tough time keeping their cool, often letting frustration from questionable calls or intense games get in the way of their focus. This year, it looks like Toronto is really set on changing things up. There were definitely a lot of talks about how the Maple Leafs might not even get past Round 1, especially since the Ottawa Senators were really close to making a comeback. Well, it looks like the Sens’ ambitions were put on hold right away. So, did Bennett say anything after his run-in with Stolarz?

The Panthers forward shared concern for the Maple Leafs goalie

“I heard that he went to the hospital last night, and he’s a good friend of mine. I reached out to him. He responded. Never want to see an injury like that. From my point of view, I’m just taking the puck the net. I didn’t even know that we made contact until after,” Sam Bennett said, reflecting on his incident with Anthony Stolarz. Both NHL players used to be teammates.

So, Stolarz had quite the season with the Panthers in 2023-24, and guess what? He even snagged the Stanley Cup! The Panthers forward explained that, from his perspective, he was simply trying to push the puck toward the net during a power play and didn’t notice any contact until the play had ended.

Bennett mentioned that there wasn’t any bad intention behind it, describing the collision as just a little bump with no real force involved. He also mentioned how worried he was about his former teammate, since these kinds of hits can really be serious, even if they weren’t intentional.