Panthers’ Bennett comments on hit on Maple Leafs’ Stolarz

Less than 24 hours after the Florida Panthers did not make Sam Bennett available to talk to the media, the forward offered his thoughts Tuesday on the controversial hit on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz.

“Stollie is a good friend of mine. I reached out to him. He responded,” Bennett said. “Obviously never want to see an injury like that. From my point of view, I’m just taking the puck to the net. I didn’t even know we made contact until after. I’m on the power play, I’m trying to score. I’m taking the puck to the net. That’s really all there was to it.”

The incident occurred midway through the second period of Game 1 Monday in the second-round series. 

While the Panthers were in the Leafs zone on a power play, Bennett appeared to catch Stolarz in the head with his forearm as he was skating past the netminder. No penalty was called on the play. 

Stolarz initially stayed in the game, but left minutes later. He was seen vomiting on the bench and was transported by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation. 

The league has decided Bennett will face no supplemental discipline for the incident.

Leafs coach Craig Berube said Tuesday that Stolarz is doing well and with the team. He did not say whether Stolarz suffered a concussion or would be available for Game 2.

Earlier in the game, Stolarz was hit in the head by the puck on a wrist shot from Panthers forward Sam Reinhart.

Joseph Woll entered in relief and made 17 saves on 20 shots as Toronto fended off Florida to win 5-4.

“I think I can understand why people reacted that way (being angry) because Stollie is injured,” Bennett said. “Of course when your starting goaltender gets injured, people are going to be upset. Looking back at the video, the contact that was made, in my opinion, it’s really just a bump. There was no forceful action. I’m trying to score. The last thing on my mind is thinking about elbowing him in the head. When it happened, I didn’t even realize I had made contact.”

It’s not the first time Bennett has drawn the ire of the Leafs. Bennett concussed Matthew Knies when he drove him into the boards and took him down during the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He was also not suspended for punching then-Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand in the second round last year.

Bennett was asked if he understands why people may have a strong reaction when he is involved in a controversial play.

“That’s part of the game. I play a hard style of hockey. I think people get upset by things and worked up,” he said. “But I try to just tune that out. I’m just trying to play my game. I’m just trying to help our team win. I’m just trying to push all that noise away.”

Watch Game 2 of the series Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.

if (!res.ok) { throw new Error('Failed to fetch odds data'); }

const data = await res.json(); const oddsData = data?.data?.game?.details?.current_line; const visitingTeam = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team; const visitingTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team?.image_url_90; const homeTeam = data?.data?.game?.home_team; const homeTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.home_team?.image_url_90; const gameTimestamp = data?.data?.game?.details?.timestamp;

return { oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp }; }

async function renderBetMGM(componentId, league, gameId) { let oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp, error;

const container = document.getElementById(componentId + '-odds'); if (!container) return;

try { ({ oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp } = await fetchOddsData(league, gameId)); } catch (err) { error = err.message; }

if (error) { container.innerHTML = `

Error: ${error}

`; return; }

if (!oddsData) { container.innerHTML = `

Odds data not available

`; return; }

let gameDate = new Date(gameTimestamp * 1000); const gameDateFormatted = gameDate.toLocaleDateString('en-US', { year: 'numeric', month: 'long', day: 'numeric' });

container.innerHTML = `

BetMGM Odds

${gameDateFormatted}

VS

Moneyline

${visitingTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.away_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.away_money}` : oddsData.away_money}

${homeTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.home_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.home_money}` : oddsData.home_money}

Spread

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_points : oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money : oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_points : oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money : oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

Over/Under

O ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.over_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.over_money}` : oddsData.over_money}

U ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.under_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.under_money}` : oddsData.under_money}

Powered by

${gameDateFormatted}

VS

Powered by

`; }

// Example usage renderBetMGM('block_1f306e4bfec361fb2e0909a61de9b7ee', 'NHL', 'c5fc0ab9-fa4e-40df-931c-9898ee7a5094');