How Panthers backup goaltender Stolarz learned to stay ready despite limited game action

Anthony Stolarz, like he has so many times throughout his NHL career, waited for his moment. That’s the life of an backup goaltender: Get ready and wait, go potentially weeks on end without getting any game reps until, suddenly, it’s your time to get in net to give the starter a breather.

“It’s just the mindset,” Stolarz said. “It’s being ready for it. You know obviously you wanna play as many games as possible, so stay sharp, be ready and bide your time.”

His time came Tuesday for the Florida Panthers and he showed the wait was worth it.

Stolarz was strong in net, stopping 27 of 28 shots that came his way in a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at Amerant Bank Arena and giving the Panthers a glimpse of what they have on days that Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t start.

“It’s obviously exciting,” Stolarz said. “It’s why you work hard in practice, so when your name’s call, you’re ready to go.”

That was the case on Tuesday for Stolarz, who has learned the ways of the backup goaltender life. Outside of the 2021-22 season when he was in net for 23 games with the Anaheim Ducks, Stolarz has never started more than 12 games in a season. He shuttled back and forth from the NHL to the American Hockey League in the early stages of his career, filling in when injury occurred.

But when Stolarz is in net, he has generally been solid. In 82 career appearances — a full season’s sample size split up over seven seasons and four teams — Stolarz has a .912 save percentage and a 2.90 goals against average.

His track record as a steady, capable backup played a factor in the Panthers signing him to a one-year, $1.1 million deal this offseason. Bobrovsky was going to get the bulk of the playing time. Spencer Knight was almost assuredly going to start the season with the Charlotte Checkers, Florida’s AHL affiliate, to get steady playing time after missing the end of last season while in the NHL/NHL Players Association’s joint player assistance program.

So having a veteran who understands and has been through the backup role was pivotal.

“It can be tough [being a backup] and if you haven’t already lived through it, it can be a real challenge, but that is why he is here,” Panthers coach Maurice said Friday. “He is experienced, he practices hard, is in a great mood and understands this light schedule at the start of a year. We’re getting Sergei into a rhythm and that is clearly a priority. He will be ready.”

He was ready on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Stolarz, a massive presence in net at 6-6 and 243 pounds, turned aside all nine shots he faced in a scoreless first period and the first 12 shots he faced overall before San Jose’s Fabian Zetterlund capitalized on a power play midway through the second period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Florida responded with goals by Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart later in the period to take the lead for good.

Stolarz, who is now 9-1-0 with a .931 save percentage (367 for 394) over 12 games against the Sharks, didn’t let anything else get past him the rest of the night, and his defense did its job in front of him to clog up lanes and limit the Sharks from having too many high-danger chances.

“Definitely a little jitters going out there and having the crowd but to face familiar team that I’ve played a couple times before [helped],” Stolarz said. “And I knew the guys would show up in front of me and that’s exactly what they did.”

Added Verhaeghe: “He’s a big guy back there and he makes timely saves. There is not a lot of net to shoot at. He was huge, he made awesome saves, and definitely kept us in the game. It was nice to see him make his debut.”