Anthony Stolarz taken to hospital after being injured by William Nylander.

The Maple Leafs started things off on Saturday night in the worst way imaginable.

Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was injured during warmups ahead of a clash against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night when he was struck in the head by a shot courtesy of his own teammate, Maple Leafs star forward William Nylander.

It looked to me initially like the puck went off of Stolarz's mask and rattled his brain a little, but it now sounds like things may actually be much worse.

According to an official announcement from Maple Leafs public relations, Stolarz is being transported to hospital after he was struck in the throat by the puck, and not in the head. According to the official announcement Stolarz is being taken to hospital for precautionary imaging, but the fact that he is being taken at all suggests there is at least some level of concern about his health.

It is an incredibly unfortunate situation for the Maple Leafs, especially considering that this was entirely avoidable, and paints Nylander in a pretty bad light given how careless he was with the health of his own teammate. While I don't believe for a moment that Nylander intended to injure Stolarz, his decision to shoot a puck in that fashion during warmups was certainly reckless and it has now cost his team.