Sam Bennett Remorseful for Hit on Stolarz; Will Not Face Discipline
Sam Bennett said he did not intend on hurting Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz, who left Game 1 with concussion-related symptoms after a collision in the second period.
Sam Bennett said he did not intend on hurting Anthony Stolarz when his arm clipped the back of his former teammate’s head, partially causing him to leave the game in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-4 Game 1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The incident occurred near the midway point of the second period and Stolarz remained in the game for another three minutes of game time before he was pulled after he threw up on the Toronto bench during a TV timeout. He was taken to the hospital on a stretcher after showing signs of concussion symptoms.
Stolarz first showed signs of being shaken up after a Sam Reinhart shot hit him in the face and knocked his mask off five minutes into the game. The Maple Leafs opted to leave him in the game afterward.
Bennett will not receive supplemental discipline from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for the hit.
“I heard that he went to the hospital last night. Stolie’s a good friend of mine, I reached out to him and he responded,” Bennett said. “Obviously, you never want to see an injury like that, but from my point of view, I’m just taking the puck to the net. I didn’t even know I made contact. I’m on the power play, I’m trying to score. That’s really all there was to it.”
Bennett has received a lot of criticism for the hit — from Maple Leafs fans and the national media alike — and he understands where they are coming from. But he also maintains that there was no intent on the play.
“I can understand why people reacted that way because Stolie is injured,” Bennett said. “Of course, when your starting goalie gets injured, people are going to be upset. Looking back at the video, the contact, in my opinion, was just a bump. I’m trying to score, the last thing in my mind is thinking about elbowing him in the head. When it happened, I didn’t even realize that I had made contact, so there wasn’t a ton of force in it.”
The 28-year-old forward has been under scrutiny for similar hits before. He injured now-teammate Brad Marchand with what some people called a sucker punch in Round 2 of the playoffs last season. He delivered a hit that injured Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies in Round 2 of the 2023 playoffs.
“That’s part of the game,” Bennett said. “I play a hard style of hockey and I think people get upset by things and get worked up, but I try to tune that out. I’m just trying to play my game and help our team win, so I just try to push that noise away.”