Leafs goaltender Andersen injured
McElhinney in for now
Curtis McElhinney has been around the NHL for almost a decade, but he couldn’t recall a single start that carried the implications of the one which lays ahead of him and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 33-year-old will start tonight when the Leafs host the Florida Panthers as No. 1 Frederik Andersen is sidelined at least one game – and perhaps more – with a mysterious upper body injury.
Andersen had to exit a Saturday loss in Buffalo after just a period, returning to take part briefly in practice Monday morning.
When he returns is uncertain. The team listed him as day-today with further evaluation ahead of today.
“We don’t know,” Andersen said of a timeline. “It’s tough to predict, but we’re taking it slow. Felt pretty good today, but I’m taking it one day at a time.”
With eight games left over the final 13 days of the regular season,
beginning against the Panthers, the Leafs don’t have much time to delay with the cloudy injury.
Neither the team nor Andersen would pinpoint exactly what the ailment was, only that he was “bumped” early in the 5-2 loss to the Sabres and felt “a little bit off” afterward. The offending incident appeared to come two minutes and 30 seconds into the opening frame as Sabres forward William Carrier bumped heads with Andersen after being shoved by Leafs centre Brian Boyle.
Andersen fell awkwardly to the ice, but remained in the game for the ensuing 17-plus minutes.
The Dane discussed his uncomfortable status with the team’s medical staff as well as the Sabres doctor in the intermission and “just decided to play it safe” by coming out.
He offered a murky response on whether he was suffering from concussion-like symptoms: “No. No, I don’t want to get too much into that stuff. We just want to make sure I get back in the net as quick as possible.”