Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Frederik Andersen Needed A Win

10/28/2016 at 8:16am EDT

from Kristen Shilton of TSN,

If there’s one thing this young Toronto Maple Leafs season hasn't been short on for goaltender Frederik Andersen, it’s adversity.

There was the blowout loss at home on Tuesday against Tampa. Then in the second period of Thursday's game against the Florida Panthers he was tripped awkwardly in his crease by Jaromir Jagr, which fortunately didn't do any damage. What did was the high-stick Andersen subsequently took from Colton Sceviour through his mask that split open his left eyebrow, after he had backstopped the Maple Leafs to a lead late in the third period.

The bloodied netminder stayed in though. He stopped 29 of 31 shots to give Toronto its second win of the year, downing the Panthers 3-2. The Leafs move to 2-2-3 on the season.

“It’s a little different experience. I’m sure that probably won’t happen the same way again,” Andersen said of his eventful night. “I’m glad the eye is okay [because] you never want to leave the game. I was just happy we could patch it up so it wouldn’t bleed too much and keep me out there.”

The last 72 hours have been a near-constant stream of debate, criticism and questions about Andersen and his league-low stats after five starts. Before Thursday’s game, many of the Maple Leafs defended their goaltender and lamented the quality of chances they have allowed up front that have hindered his success. Head coach Mike Babcock thought his team did even more of that against Florida.

continued

Game highlights are below plus a video of the high-stick on Andersen...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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