Andersen and offence no-shows
Leafs suffer first shutout, snapping Matthews’ streak, with goalie joining long injury list
Flames 3 Maple Leafs 0 NEXT: WEDNESDAY VS. FLAMES
Auston Matthews didn’t score. Mitch Marner didn’t score.
But perhaps more worrisome: Frederik Andersen didn’t play as the Maple Leafs dropped a 3-0 decision to the Calgary Flames on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
“He’s day-to-day,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “That’s all I’ve got for you. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here.”
Michael Hutchinson was pressed into an emergency start, and it was hardly his fault that Sam Bennett scored on a shot deflected by Leaf John Tavares in the first, that Matthew Tkachuk deflected a Mark Giordano shot in the second, and Sean Monahan put the game away in the third.
“I was told early in the day,” said Hutchinson. “Unfortunately Freddie wasn’t able to play, but I had plenty of time to prepare.”
Andersen appeared to be battling some discomfort Saturday against the , but he took the morning skate as usual on Monday. He’s been rock solid lately and missing a long period of time would be a loss, though Keefe did also suggest that No. 2 netminder Jack Campbell was close to returning from a leg injury.
At the other end, David Rittich was full measure for the shutout with Toronto outshooting Calgary 34-33. The teams play again on Wednesday.
After 20 games, the Leafs have 30 points, their third-best start ever. They had 31 points over the first 20 games in 1933-34 and 1934-35. á Streak over: It was just the second time Matthews failed to register a point this season, the fifth for Marner. Matthews, named NHL player of the week after piling up seven goals and five assists over four games, had registered at least a point in his last 16 straight games.
“We didn’t really have a lot of jump to start the game,” said Matthews. “They came out with purpose and we didn’t really have any pushback.” á Credit the Flames: The Flames were dealing with their own injuries, including the loss of No. 1 goalie Jacob Markstrom (upper body). The Leafs won in Calgary on Jan. 24 and 26. Worse for the Flames, Calgary had lost three in a row, outscored 14-3 over that span. Given their talent level, they should be better than their record indicates. So they had a wounded animal feel as they hit their second game of a six-game road trip.
Hungry and determined, they became the first team to shut out high-flying Toronto.
“I thought it was clear that the other team had a little more urgency tonight, for sure. Thought our team played like one that was expecting things to go bad and to not go our way today, rather than making it go our way,” said Keefe. “So I didn’t like our mindset in that sense.” á So many injuries: Andersen wasn’t the only regular out with an injury. Jake Muzzin (broken facial bone), Zach Hyman and Joe Thornton (both undisclosed) were also out, and the patchwork lineup felt out of sync from the drop of the puck with unrecognizable lines.
Tavares skated on the left wing with Matthews and Marner, but there was no magic and the experiment was abandoned.
Alex Barabanov, though, went from healthy scratch to secondliner and had his best game. The best Leafs early in the game were further down the lineup: Ilya Mikheyev with a couple of short-handed breakaways and Pierre Engvall putting in a solid performance. á Not so special: The Leafs’ power play was red hot coming in, after converting half its chances last week, but went 0for-7 on Monday night, including a long stretch of five-onthree. The Flames scored on two of their five chances. á Sam the wrecker man: The best player on either team in the first period was the Flames’ Sam Bennett, the Richmond Hill product mentioned frequently in trade talk these days. Like Marner, Doug Gilmour was Bennett’s favourite player growing up. Like Alex Galchenyuk, Bennett is a high draft pick (fourth overall in 2014) who hasn’t lived up to expectations. But he scored the game’s first goal, his elbow gave Jimmy Vesey a bloody nose on his first shift and he was a physical presence all night in front of Hutchinson. He’s been in and out of the lineup, but it seemed like he was auditioning — maybe even for his hometown Leafs — with his play Monday.