Andersen earns Vezina buzz,
Leafs goalie is fifth in NHL in wins, maybe the only stat that he puts much stock in
If Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen seemed abrupt Friday when asked about being mentioned in Vezina Trophy talk, that’s because he was.
Andersen has one of the NHL’s best save percentages since Christmas and his 44-save performance against Nashville on Wednesday — 50 if you include the shootout — might have been his most dominating performance of the season. But Andersen doesn’t concern himself much with his numbers, or what they might lead to. He worries about stopping the puck and winning games; the team comes first.
What does he think of the Vezina talk?
“Nothing right now,” Andersen said. “There’s more important things to do, and we have a lot of work in front of us.”
The Leafs, third in the Atlantic Division, have 26 games left in the regular season, starting with the Ottawa Senators’ visit Saturday night, and seem headed toward a first-round playoff matchup with second-place Boston (five points ahead of Toronto) or Tampa Bay (eight ahead), if the Bruins can pass the Lightning. But the focus for Andersen and his teammates is simple: Get better every day.
Andersen has shown a dramatic improvement in the shootout. After allowing 11 goals on 23 shots and posting a 1-7 record in the extra session last season, Andersen is 5-1 this season, with 21 stops on 27 shots.
But one of his biggest strengths has been how he has responded to goals.
“I try to be the best and I want to be among that category, but for me (the regular goaltending) stats aren’t useful to look at too much,” Andersen said. “I look at goals against and saves. Would I have done something different or is that what I tried to do in that situation?
“There can be a game where you see 15 shots and let in three, but you wouldn’t have done anything different on the three goals. The only difference would be if you had 35 saves and the next 20 saves you got right in the gut where you could have had some easy saves.
“That’s what I mean that it could be misleading, those stats, and make you feel you are playing better than you are — or worse.”
Those stats look pretty good, though. Andersen entered Friday fifth in the NHL in wins (26) and ninth in save percentage (.922). And he was among a group of at least 11 goalies with a viable chance of being a finalist in the Vezina voting.
Andersen credits Leafs goalie coach Steve Briere with not only fine-tuning his game but “getting to know me” and “what I need to work on.”
Briere is the third serious goaltending coach with fingerprints on Andersen’s career, after Frolunda’s Michael Andreasson, who worked with him in the Swedish Elite League six years ago, and Ernst Andersen, the goalie’s father.
But not everything about the Leafs starter is serious, even if he is all business on the ice.
“His humour is pretty dry, but we get in (the dressing room) and he gives it to the guys — me and him, we have fun with that — and he’s pretty good, he even gives it to me sometimes, too,” forward Tyler Bozak said.
“I don’t show (my emotions) too much,” Andersen said. “We celebrate in the room afterwards, we keep it light.”