The 31-year-old blue liner had been practicing with the club, but hadn't earned a contract since a gruesome leg injury ended his season in Game 2 of Toronto's first-round playoff series versus the Washington Capitals.
Although the Maple Leafs have jumped out of the gate to a 6-2 start, the club has allowed 28 goals - the seventh most in the NHL. Polak, already familiar with what head coach Mike Babcock expects of him, will be counted on to help stabilize the back end.
In 75 games with Toronto last season, Polak netted 11 points, averaging 17:55 of ice-time.
The 31-year-old blue liner had been practicing with the club, but hadn't earned a contract since a gruesome leg injury ended his season in Game 2 of Toronto's first-round playoff series versus the Washington Capitals.
Although the Maple Leafs have jumped out of the gate to a 6-2 start, the club has allowed 28 goals - the seventh most in the NHL. Polak, already familiar with what head coach Mike Babcock expects of him, will be counted on to help stabilize the back end.
In 75 games with Toronto last season, Polak netted 11 points, averaging 17:55 of ice-time.
The Vegas Golden Knights are off to a record start despite an injury to their starting goaltender, and now they may have another significant one to overcome.
Oscar Dansk came on in relief of Subban and stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced in his NHL debut.
Subban had replaced Marc-Andre Fleury as the Golden Knights' starter after the veteran suffered a concussion last week. Subban had a pair of wins and a .936 save percentage in three games.
More than a few coaches turned to their backup goaltender in a jam-packed night on the NHL calendar.
Eight second-stringers got the call Saturday night and came away with varying degrees of success. Here's our assessment of their performances, from the most alarming to the most promising.
Time to panic
Antti Niemi
The Pittsburgh Penguins netminder struggled in two earlier appearances this season, lasting just nine minutes in his first contest and then allowing five goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning in his second start a week later.
Niemi didn't fare any better in a rematch against the Lightning on Saturday. He gave up seven goals, including four on the first 14 shots. Through three games as a Penguin, it looks like more of the same from Niemi, who was bought out by the Dallas Stars in the offseason after he posted a dreadful .892 save percentage a year ago.
Louis Domingue
Following a leg injury to newcomer Antti Raanta, the Coyotes have been forced to throw Domingue into the deep end, with ugly results.
The Arizona netminder has struggled, leaving the Coyotes - winless through eight games - calling on 21-year-old AHL farmhand Adin Hill. Domingue's allowed 19 goals in five contests (three starts), including Saturday's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cause for concern
Anton Khudobin
With starter Tuukka Rask shelved with a concussion, Khudobin is the go-to goalie in Boston for the immediate future.
The early returns came up in favor of the Bruins, as he turned aside 26 shots while backstopping Boston to a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. But the next game wasn't as impressive - he and the Bruins surrendered a 4-1 lead over the Buffalo Sabres before losing in overtime.
Philipp Grubauer
The Capitals have an intriguing up-and-coming goaltender in Grubauer, but the 25-year-old has failed to find a win in the early season.
Through three contests - including Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers - Grubauer's earned a .848 save percentage, a stark contrast to the .926 he posted a year ago. He needs to improve in order for the Capitals to comfortably grant Braden Holtby the occasional night off.
Time will tell
Alex Stalock
Stalock signed with the Wild after a five-year run in San Jose, but hasn't seen much action at the big-league level. He's appeared in just four NHL games over the past two seasons, and spent much of last season in the minors.
He needs a larger body of work with Minnesota for the team and its fans to accurately evaluate him. The 30-year-old appeared in a career-high 24 games with the Sharks in 2013-14 and came away with 12 wins and a .932 save percentage.
Malcolm Subban
The Golden Knights saw something in Subban when they claimed the budding netminder on waivers from the Bruins. After he arrived in Las Vegas, the team quickly made room for him by shipping former backup Calvin Pickard to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Subban struggled when called upon by the Bruins, but the 23-year-old got the last laugh with his new club. He picked up his first win as a Golden Knight - and first NHL win overall - with a 3-1 victory over Boston. Subban added his second career win two nights later against the Sabres.
One bad night
Juuse Saros
Every goalie is due for a bad game eventually, and unfortunately for Saros, it was his turn Saturday. The Nashville Predators netminder allowed three goals on 14 shots in a loss to the New York Rangers.
After two games, the 22-year-old remains in search of his first win on the season. But the victories should soon follow - the Predators see plenty of potential in him, and that's easy to understand considering the Finnish goaltender posted a winning record alongside a .923 save percentage last season. It won't be long before he's entrusted with more games as Nashville puts a succession plan in place for starter Pekka Rinne.
Aaron Dell
Calling on Dell is typically a safe bet for the Sharks, but that wasn't the case Saturday, as they were sunk by the New York Islanders. Dell allowed four goals on 22 shots and was handed his second loss of the season.
He appeared in 20 games with the Sharks in 2016-17, his first NHL campaign after spending the previous four seasons in the minors, and posted an 11-6-1 record that's now earned him an extended look as the Sharks' second-stringer.
After missing the playoffs last season, the Kings have gone 6-0-1 under new head coach John Stevens.
As a bonus, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar appear committed to wiping away their poor personal performances from a year ago, as evidenced by their stat lines through seven games.
Player
Goals
Assists
Points
Kopitar
6
5
11
Brown
5
6
11
Not to be outdone, Jonathan Quick is riding a .938 save percentage after being sidelined by injury for most of last season.
Stop doubting the Senators
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the latest installment of the Battle of Ontario as a burgeoning powerhouse, having averaged almost five goals per game to date.
It was the pesky Ottawa Senators who came out on top Saturday, however, limiting Toronto to a season-low three goals while pouring it on with six of their own.
Those who take deeper dives into advanced stats tend to cast doubt on Ottawa, especially considering the Senators ranked 31st in Corsi For in five-on-five play (43.39) heading into the game, according to Corsica. This, to be sure, is not generally seen as a recipe for success.
To the Sens' credit, though, they keep winning, and they have their all-world defenseman back in the fold to boot.
Hahahaha Erik Karlsson is basically still rehabbing off-season surgery and has 6 points in 3 games. Unreal.
Much like the Kings, the Tampa Bay Lightning were hoping to bounce back after missing the 2017 postseason, and they're proving to be up to the challenge.
Tampa hosted the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and came out on top 7-1. It helps that Antti Niemi is well below average in net, but Tampa Bay was the better team from start to finish.
Derick Brassard and Mark Stone each had two goals and an assist, Erik Karlsson had three assists and the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Saturday night.
Nate Thompson and Ryan Dzingel also scored for the Senators, who have earned points in seven of their eight games (4-1-3) and won at home for the first time after coming in 0-3-1. Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots in his seventh start of the season.
James van Riemsdyk, Auston Matthews and William Nylander scored for the Leafs, and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves. Toronto had won its first three road games.
Trailing 3-0 entering the final period, the Leafs struck quickly with goals from van Riemsdyk and Matthews 2 1/2 minutes apart to pull within one at 8:34. However, Stone gave the Senators a two-goal cushion again 7 seven seconds later.
Nylander scored on the power play with 7:08 left, pulling the Leafs within one again but they got no closer. Brassard scored with 3 1/2 minutes left and Stone added an empty netter with 39 seconds to go.
Ottawa took its 3-0 lead with one in the first and two in the second.
Thompson got his first as a Senator when he smacked in a rebound at 12:01 of the first period as Andersen had his back to the puck and his head in the net following a mass scramble in front of the goal.
Dzingel increased the lead to 2-0 when he tipped Karlsson's point shot off the glove of Andersen and in with 5:40 remaining in the second.
The Senators kept pressing and made it a 3-0 game with just 12 seconds to play in the period when Brassard took a cross-ice pass from Bobby Ryan off his skates and then beat Andersen on the stick side.
Notes: Mark Borowiecki was a scratch for the Senators while Eric Fehr, Josh Lewo and Calle Rosen were scratches for the Leafs. ... Anderson became the first goaltender to appear in 300 games with Ottawa.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Los Angeles on Monday night.
Senators: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night in the fourth game of a five-game homestand.
