Leafs survive Andersen injury to shoot down Ducks in wild game
Frederik Andersen was shaken and Leaf Nation rattled before Toronto rolled over the Anaheim Ducks on a manic Monday at the Air Canada Centre.
The 7-4 home win was completed minus Leafs MVP Andersen, knocked out halfway through the game when the airborne left skate on Corey Perry’s foot struck him under the mask as the Ducks forward stumbled over Toronto defenceman Ron Hainsey.
Andersen wasn’t cut, but shed his mask and cradled his jaw in his mitts for a few moments before heading to the dressing room for likely concussion protocol. That was enough to cause panic up and down Bay St., but head coach Mike Babcock was encouraged by a postgame chat with the goalie.
“I think he’s fine. I was just talking to him,” Babcock said a few minutes after Curtis McElhinney supplied the victory in relief. “We’ll see what goes on (Tuesday morning).”
Asked if Andersen wanted to return, Babcock said the whole matter was given to the medical staff to determine.
Andersen, seeking his 26th win, exited in the midst of a wild game where the top lines on both clubs came out showing all their talents with 84 total shots in the contest.
Perry was in the midst of a season-high four-point night when the incident took place. His line with Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell had nine points.
On the Toronto side, Auston Matthews scored the game’s first goal on a wraparound and added another off his skate that he tapped in past Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller late in the final frame. William Nylander also had a pair of markers along with an assist, while Zach Hyman, Mitch Marner and Leo Komarov all found the back of the net.
Not to be overlooked were three assists by Jake Gardiner, including a stretch pass that sent Nylander in alone in the third for a goal that put the game out of reach.
“Definitely a bounce-back game for us,” said Matthews, who had been held to a single shot in a sluggish performance in a 4-1 loss to the Bruins on Saturday.
What might have been the most encouraging sign for the Leafs, other than the scoring spree and McElhinney ’s 15 saves on 16 shots, was the Leafs responding in kind when the game got nasty.
“We responded really well to that,” Matthews said. “They’re big and physical and like to get the puck down deep. We broke out fast and got the puck behind them to control the play. That’s the way games are played sometimes, especially in the playoffs.
“When a big piece of your team such as Freddy goes down, everyone needs to rally around that.”
“We’ve been fortunate,” said McElhinney of not having an injury to Andersen before this. “Hopefully, he’s all right. Sometimes those (mid-game) situations are difficult for a goalie to go into, but we responded. You get in there, you want to make the most of the situation.”
Toronto plays Nashville Wednesday, giving Andersen a day to be reassessed. The Leafs might have to call up AHL goalie of the month Garret Sparks if Andersen is ruled unable to play.
Andersen had a strong start with 16 saves in the first period but allowed goals by Getzlaf, Rakell and Ondrej Kase in the middle period before making his exit.
It was not a particularly good night for Miller, who had a career mark of 33-19-3 against the Leafs coming in.
“We were joking it was like a football game tonight, all offence,” said Gardiner, who now has 13 assists in the past nine games.
“If (the Matthews line) keeps scoring at this rate, we’re going to win a lot of games. Definitely we have to tighten up in a few areas, but we’ll take the win for sure.”
Matthews now has 25 goals on the season. Nylander’s assist gave him 29 for the team lead. It was also Babcock’s 100th win in his Leafs tenure.
The Ducks have now lost three straight games.
“We’re not going to beat anyone 8-7, so we need to do a better job shutting teams down,” Getzlaf said. “We didn’t play run and gun, but we had breakdowns and that’s their game. They get behind you and have guys who can put the puck in the net.”