The Toronto Maple Leafs have relied heavily on Frederik Andersen with their backup goaltender struggles and in the wake of their sub .500 record at the time Mike Babcock was fired, but after facing 48 shots in a win over Winnipeg on Thursday, the Leafs will go with backup Michael Hutchinson in a non-back-to-back situation for the first time against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Andersen has played 16 of the club’s 19 games since November 20 (including both ends of a back-to-back in early December), and is 12-3-1, with a 2.58 GAA and .920 save %. The club will begin a stretch of seven games in 14 days before their bye week and the NHL All-Star break later this month. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that with no back-to-back games in January, that they had to find an opportunity to get Andersen some rest.
Hutchinson (2-5-1, 4.03 GAA, .883 save %) has won his last two, but still has a way to go before eliminating the doubts that he can earn points in the games that Andersen does not start that could be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.
"Coming off of a good road trip, we want to start off well at home. You don’t want to be flat, a good start is key for us."
The game is the first of a three-game home stand for Toronto, who have points in nine straight (8-0-1) and are in second place in the Atlantic Division with 51 points (23-14-5). The key to the Leafs success of late has been the consistency of their offense, who are averaging over five goals per game during their streak.
“There has been a lot tactically that we’ve discussed and tried to change offensively,” Keefe said. “At the same time, a lot of what we are doing is just trying to put the good players in a position to succeed. They’ve done well with that, so whether that’s tactical pieces or ice time or situations we are putting them five-on-five and on the power play, we are just trying to have the right people out there.”
There were no indications of any lineup changes against New York from the group that won over the Jets, but injured forwards Andreas Johnsson(foot) and Trevor Moore(concussion) did take to the ice at Scotiabank Arena., The club returned defenseman Teemu Kivihalme to the Toronto Marlies on Saturday, leaving them with six active defensemen, which will likely be the norm for the remainder of the regular season with the Leafs tight against the salary cap and their AHL affiliate just down the road.
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Leafs prospect Rasmus Sandin put on an impressive offensive display in the IIHF World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old defensemen was named Sweden’s player of the game, with four points (2 goals, 2 assists).
Sweden isn't messing around... less than 20 seconds into the game and Rasmus Sandin claps one home! 😱 pic.twitter.com/BxO6W8ACYZ
Sandin scored his first goal 16 seconds into the game and assisted on Samuel Fagemo’s power play goal later in the first period, then tied the contest 3-3 in the second period on the man advantage and assisted on Nils Lundkvist’s go-ahead goal in the third, but the Russians rallied to tie the game and won on Ivan Morozov’s goal in overtime.
Sandin scores his second of the game. His third point.
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