Maple Leafs scramble for damage control amid Sam Bennett controversy
Ahead of Game 2 in Toronto. Full details down below:
Game 2 takes place later tonight between Toronto and Florida in their second round series of the postseason, but the spotlight remains on Panthers center Sam Bennett and Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz.
The incident occurred midway through the second period of Game 1 Monday when Bennett caught Stolarz in the head with his forearm as he was skating past the crease. Stolarz stayed on the ice a while, but stayed in the game, only to head to the bench minutes later when he was seen vomiting. He was then transported by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation.
No penalty was called on the play and Bennett was not given any supplemental discipline for the incident. Which has Leafs fans furious, with some even handing out Wanted dead or alive posters of Bennett.
However, the Maple Leafs themselves are trying to calm the storm around Bennett ahead of tonight’s Game 2. Per Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston, Toronto wants to “try to keep the focus on the game and not on the possibility of a Bennett-related sideshow.”
From their article in the New York Times:
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Berube said when asked about the lack of supplementary discipline for Bennett on Tuesday morning. “It’s over.”
Retribution, the Leafs insisted, wouldn’t be on their minds in Game 2.
Berube’s message to the team was simple: “Play hockey.”
This is a lot to ask fans in Toronto, especially that the hit on Stolarz came two years and one day after Bennett knocked Matthew Knies of the Maple Leafs out with a concussion when he body slammed him to the ice. Like the Bennett elbow on the Leafs’ netminder, there was no penalty called on the play.
Game 2 will be intense later on in Toronto, especially since Bennett is not likely to change his approach for the remainder of the series.
“I play a hard style of hockey and I think people get upset by it, I think, and worked up,” Bennett 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 just try and push all of that noise away.”
Game 2 is on at 7ET tonight in Toronto.
