Andersen’s status complicated
Goalie was injured on hit to the head from skate against Anaheim on Monday
For a moment there Monday night, Maple Leafs goalie Freddie Andersen knew what it felt like to take a Mike Tyson upper cut to the jaw.
In Andersen’s case, it was a skate to the jaw. But the sensation was the same. “It felt like an uppercut to the jaw,” Andersen said Tuesday, a little more than 12 hours after Corey Perry’s skate shot up during a goalmouth scoring chance and struck the goalie in the face.
Andersen returned to practice Tuesday and appeared otherwise normal as the Leafs prepared for what promises to be another tough, big and physical opponent in the Nashville Predators.
The key question was, “will Andersen play against the Predators.” And while Andersen said he feels fine, that decision won’t be fully made until Wednesday, either at the morning skate or prior to game time.
Andersen said he successfully completed concussion protocol after the skate to the jaw contact forced him out of Monday’s 7-4 win over Perry and the Anaheim Ducks.
Andersen will have to show the same results in the final phases of the protocol, including no negative effects after an all-out practice.
“I talked to him (Monday night) and he was fine, so there hasn’t been a concern,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said, adding that the ultimate game decision on Andersen belongs to the team’s medical staff.
“I haven’t talked to them (medical staff ), so we’ll make that decision (Wednesday).”
The Leafs will certainly need their top goalie to continue in the form that has made him one of the top puck stoppers in the NHL since December.
Andersen shares the NHL lead with Boston’s Tuukka Rask in save percentage since December, a fact which will only elevate him further into the top five in the discussion for the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s top goalie.
“We (players) talked to him (Andersen) last night, so we had a good idea he’d be OK,” Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly said Tuesday after practice.
“We hope it’s the same going forward. You don’t want to loose a guy like him, he’s crucial to our team. We were happy to see him on the ice (Tuesday) and we’re hoping he’s getting better.”
Andersen felt the play which resulted in the skate contact was not intentional. And while Perry is known for going very hard to the net, Andersen held no ill will against his former teammate and said Perry reached out to him after the game.
“He (Perry) texted me to make sure it wasn’t too bad,” Andersen said. “It was a skate to the head, it could have been a lot worse. He (Perry) tried to go in and score there . . . and his skate accidentally caught me on the jaw. That’s what happens sometimes. . .my jaw was pretty sore.”
Andersen and the Leafs also acknowledged the fact that goalies are often placed in collision courses with big opponents, much the way players are on every shift. Contact is a fact of life, they added, for goalies and players.
In Andersen’s case, though, health remains a central issue to the Leafs: not only is he, arguably, the team MVP, he is also on pace to reach, and surpass, his career-high 66 starts from a season ago.
He is also likely to continue as the NHL leader in shots faced and also has a chance to surpass his career high of 35 wins, set in the 2014-15 season while with Anaheim.
“I think I’m feeling good, I’m aggressive on pucks and we’ve been playing pretty well, too,” Andersen said.
“We had a few breaks (in the schedule), but in the last stretch, we’ve had a lot of games and we’re getting into a rhythm.”