ANDERSEN MOVES ON FROM ‘THE SAVE’
Frederik Andersen stuck out his paddle and dove because instinctually in the moment, that’s what goalies do.
It was his only chance, really, to stop David Pastrnak, who had more net than stick to shoot at, and had Pastrnak shot the puck along the ice or top corner — both were possible — who knows what happens after that?
Andersen may have been the least impressed person by his highlight reel stop, which is getting all kinds of play online. Maybe it was a game- and seriesaltering save. Maybe it’s a career highlight save.
But maybe it’s too early to know exactly what it meant.
What he didn’t do was go home and watch highlights of it over and over. Quiet and thoughtful, he’s not exactly one of those “look at me” goalies.
And he clearly understood there was plenty of time left to play. The Maple Leafs were ahead in Game 3, the Boston Bruins were pushing hard to come back, the crowd was electric, and there was no time for personal thought or celebration.
“We got away with the win,” Andersen said, happy with the outcome, not necessarily happy with how the game unfolded.
The Leafs needed a victory for any hopes of survival in this playoff series with the Bruins, just as they need another victory Thursday night in Game 4 to have any chance of beating this impressive Boston team.
No team in the NHL, it says here, could beat the Bruins three straight and that includes the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights. Should the Leafs lose in Game 4, they will need three straight wins to win the series — in other words, they won’t advance beyond the first round if they lose Game 4.
A win Thursday night and the series gets more interesting — and Andersen knows there was some good play, some good will, some good luck that resulted in the Game 3 victory.
The Leafs have to be better in Game 4 than they’ve been in the first three games of this series. Andersen has to be better. He was average in Game 1, pulled in Game 2, red-hot and fortunate in the second half of Game 3. In his first 100 minutes against the Bruins, they scored eight times on him.
In the final 33 minutes against the Bruins Monday night, no goals against. And Andersen understands this implicitly: He can’t give up any free ones against a team with this kind of offensive talent.
Pastrnak scored three times in Game 2. In Game 3, he hit a post, missed an empty net, almost scored on a terrific Andersen save — and then came the signature save, the one we’ll be looking at for years. Pastrnak had no goals. He had chances to score four.
He won’t miss those kind of opportunities again. The Leafs have to limit those opportunities for the third member of the Boston Big Line.
The Leafs need Andersen to be what he was most of this recordbreaking season: They need him to be their best player. Most NHL teams aren’t as dependent on their goaltender as the Leafs are on theirs.
The old expression that your best players have to be your best players is true in almost every playoff sense, but in Toronto’s case, the best players are Andersen, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly. Probably their four best players in Game 3.
Not sure how much better Rielly can play — this was top shelf for him. But as great as Anderson, Matthews and Marner can be, there is another level to get to. Another place to define themselves as playoff performers.
Another highlight, another moment, on this week of weeks on the Toronto sporting calendar. If there has been a week like this one in the past, with so much going on, excuse me if I can’t remember it.
The Raptors played to back to back sellouts, and more importantly, back to back home playoff wins.
The Leafs won Monday in a building Matthews described as earthquake-like. Mike Babcock talked unsolicited about what the anthem felt like with the Air Canada Centre crowd singing along. This isn’t normally what quiet Toronto sounds like.
And on Tuesday night, there were more than 62,000 fans at three Toronto venues within a few miles of each other — making noise inside and outside about basketball, soccer and baseball.
Now it’s the Leafs’ turn to hold serve. Every game is must-win.
“They won their two at home. We need to do our job and win our two,” said Matthews.
The task is herculean in hockey terms. This Bruins team is good enough to win the Stanley Cup.
“There’s still a lot of hockey left,” said Andersen, who wants to be known as a playoff goaltender of consequence.
“You can’t stop and think about (the save). You have to reset and go on.
“Obviously, it’s not something you see often. Then you get ready for the next one.”