Panthers’ Sam Bennett responds to Anthony Stolarz injury: ‘No forceful action’
Sam Bennett knows the narrative is out there. He knows what people are thinking of him right now.
But the Florida Panthers’ physical, gritty center made it clear Tuesday — multiple times — that he did not intend to injure Anthony Stolarz on Monday night, contrary to what the outside might believe.
Stolarz, who spent last season with the Panthers as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup and turned his stellar season with Florida into a two-year deal with Toronto, left Monday’s playoff game against the Panthers — an eventual 5-4 Toronto win at Scotiabank Arena — a few minutes after being struck in the back of the helmet by Bennett midway through the second period.
The incident happened with 12:40 left in the second period as Bennett was coming up from behind the net on the power play. His forearm brushed Stolarz on the head. Stolarz hit the ice momentarily, but stayed in the game for about three more minutes of game action — about nine minutes in real time — before ultimately being replaced by backup Joseph Woll.
In the first period, Stolarz also took a hard shot off the mask from a Sam Reinhart slap shot that dislodged his mask.
Sportsnet cameras caught Stolarz vomiting over the boards and into a bucket brought over by the team’s training staff. Stolarz was taken to a local hospital on a stretcher during the third period and was released Tuesday.
“Stolie’s a a good friend of mine. I reached out to him. He responded,” Bennett said Tuesday. “Obviously 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 that I made contact until after. I’m on the power play. I’m trying to score. I’m taking the puck on the net. And, yeah, that’s really all there was to it.”
Bennett is not expected to receive supplemental discipline from the league, likely much to the chagrin of the Maple Leafs. Toronto coach Craig Berube called the hit “clear as day” at his postgame news conference.
“I can understand why people react that way, because Stolie was injured,” Bennett said, “and, yeah, of course, when one of your starting goalies gets injured, people are going to be upset. Looking back at the video, I mean, really, the contact that was made was, in my opinion, it’s really just a bump. There was no forceful action. I’m trying to score. I’m the last thing in my mind is thinking about blowing him in the head.”
Panthers coach Paul Maurice made sure to defend his player as well. He received a handful of questions regarding the collision on Tuesday and reiterated that he did not think that Bennett crossed a line even if that’s a narrative that is being pushed.
“He took a puck outside the crease and now he’s a villain,” Maurice said Tuesday. “I expected that when I got up here this morning. It still surprises me. I mean, there were far more egregious collisions in that game, but we won’t be talking about them. ... Honest to God, I’ve seen every hit that Sam Bennett has thrown since he was 12 years old this morning. Go ahead and run with it. We’re good. The puck’s gonna drop.”
Maurice added: “Most of this for me is tempered by the fact that Stolie is one of our guys. We love that guy. If I had thought that Sam had crossed the line or an edge, I’d probably be more careful with my words. I just didn’t think it happened.”
The problem is this wasn’t an isolated occurrence. Bennett has been involved in controversial plays during the past few Panthers playoff runs.
Against the Maple Leafs in 2023, Bennett knocked Toronto forward Matthew Knies out in Game 2 of the second-round series after he picked Knies up behind the net and drove him into the ice. Knies sustained a concussion. Bennett received no penalty nor supplemental discipline on the play.
Last season, in the second round against Boston, he received more ire because of a punch on Brad Marchand that knocked Marchand out for two games in that series. Bennett again received no penalty nor supplemental discipline.
So while Monday’s incident might not have been as egregious as some of his past transgressions, the history plays a factor.
Bennett knew it was coming. It’s part of the territory for a player who plays on the edge and toes the line when it comes to physicality. He’s trying not to focus on the outside perception, though. It does him no good. There’s another game to play on Wednesday, with the Panthers trying to level the best-of-7 series.
“That’s part of the game,” Bennett said. “I play a hard style of game, a hard style of hockey. People get upset by things and worked up, 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, and I just try and push all that noise away.”
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