Andersen softies reminder of past October letdowns
It’s not like Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen plans on having bad Octobers, but after Saturday night’s 5-3 home loss to Ottawa — in which he allowed three goals on the first nine shots and a number of questionable goals — it has folks wondering again about the way he starts the season. He’s allowed the first goal in both games. His Octobers haven’t been kind. He was 6-5-0 with a 3.46 goals-against average and .896 save percentage last year. He was 2-2-3 (3.67, .833) two years ago in October, his first season with the Leafs. History, thankfully for the Maple Leafs, shows he gets better.
á For the Leafs: Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews each had a goal and an assist. Marner scored the lone power-play goal … An elongated six-on-five — Andersen was pulled with more than three minutes remaining — showed some elite passing and puck control. But Ottawa got the empty-netter in the dying seconds. á Better start, but … The Leafs skated much harder in the early part of the first period than they did in the opener against Montreal. Still, Toronto surrendered the first goal for the second game in a row. Dylan DeMelo’s shot from the point was one that Andersen probably should have had. It’s too early to call it a trend, but surrendering the first goal is not the game plan.
á Penalty shot: Marner was awarded one at 14:13 of the first after he was slashed on a breakaway. Ottawa’s Craig Anderson stopped it with his pad. It was Marner’s second career penalty shot and he’s 0-for-2. But it’s worth noting the speed the Leafs forwards have and how often they might benefit from the call. In their case, they might rather have the power play. Anderson has stopped 11 of 17 penalty shots in his career. Penalty-shot success rates tend to be over 20 per cent. Powerplay success rates tend to be under 20 per cent.
á Four in four: Five goals were scored in the second period, ending 3-3. But four were scored in rapid fashion in the opening five minutes. The Leafs scored at 0:29 (Rielly on a terrific feed from Marner) and 1:10 (Matthews with a hard shot) to take a 2-1 lead that had the crowd thinking the game would be easy. Then Ottawa scored at 3:49 (Tyler Ennis lost his man, Thomas Chabot) and 4:27 (Chris Tierney between Andersen’s pads).
á About the Sens: Chabot is Ottawa’s bright shining star on defence and he didn’t disappoint with two goals and an assist … Goalie Anderson earned an assist on Chabot’s second goal … If the Sens are going to avoid the cellar — basically their goal, since they don’t have their own first-round pick — they’ll need the kind of effort Chabot showed Saturday.
á Talking point: Leafs coach Mike Babcock says he isn’t going to match lines: “I’m just going to figure out my lines and get everyone on the ice as much as I can. If the situations in a game dictates, then I’ll have it.”