It sure wasn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs night on Wednesday when they took the ice against the Washington Capitals. Not only did the Maple Leafs get shutout 4-0 by the Capitals, they also managed to lose three players to injuries when all was said and done.
The first casualty was Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz. It was only minutes into the game when Stolarz went down after making an awkward save. It was quite the scary moment as the 32-year-old goaltender stayed down for quite a while and eventually had to be helped off the ice by his teammates. Joseph Woll was then ultimately forced into action and ended up giving up three goals on 17 shots in relief for Toronto.
Anthony Stolarz goes down the tunnel after an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/0MGc1Pt9MB
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 8, 2026
Maple Leafs suffer a trio of injuries in the same game against the Capitals
From the looks of it, Stolarz is likely done for the season with only four games remaining. However, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube didn’t rule it out just yet as he still needed to get imaging done. Nevertheless, if that is it for Stolarz for the year, then that would conclude an injury-riddled, disappointing 2025-26 campaign for him in which he posted a 10-10-3 record with a 3.28 GAA and .893 save percentage in 26 total games played for the Leafs.
On top of that, Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo and Leafs forward Dakota Joshua would both leave the game due to injuries, with Carlo suffering a lower body ailment and Joshua an upper body one. As a result, both have been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders.
Carlo himself has also had his fair share of injuries this season that had limited him to just 55 games this year with Toronto. When he was healthy, he managed to register just seven assists while averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time per night for the Leafs in 2025-26. More significantly, Carlo’s underwhelming performance this season in the Maple Leafs top-four helped contribute to their defensive struggles over the course of the year.
As for Joshua, he has looked stronger for the Leafs during the past few weeks as he had recorded two goals and three assists for five points in eight games prior to Wednesday night’s match against the Capitals. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old forward had also been somewhat of a disappointment for the Leafs this season, compiling just 10 goals and 8 assists for 18 points over 55 total games played while having his own injury issues as well along the way.
But with the Leafs’ season practically in the bag already, the injuries shouldn’t affect their outcome in the standings too much. At the same time, it should give some playing time for some of their younger prospects during the final week coming up as they can help give a glimpse of the future of the franchise in the process.