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Andersen injury downplayed by Babcock; Leafs vs. Sabres

March 15, 2018, 12:59 PM ET [820 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs return to the friendly confines of the Key Bank Center, taking on the Buffalo Sabres for the second time in front of what is expected to be a large group of Leaf fans who traditionally make their way down the QEW.

In spite of being at the bottom of the NHL standings with 56 points, the Sabres always rise to the occasion when playing their division rivals just up the QEW and handed the Leafs a 5-3 loss in their first meeting on March 5.

Toronto will be playing their second of back-to-back games after an exciting 6-5 shootout victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. The club extended their record home winning streak to 11 games, coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third on a pair James van Riemsdyk goals, tying the game with 15 seconds left on Patrick Marleau’s goal and scoring twice in shootout for the win.



Frederik Andersen left the game in the second period with an unspecified upper body injury and did not return. The Leafs goalie was injured when Dallas forward Alexander Radulov crashed the net and was propelled by Leafs blueliner Roman Polak into the crease area.




The Leafs goaltender was in discomfort and flexed his left leg immediately after the incident, but continued through the end of the first and early second period before leaving the game in favor of backup Curtis McElhinney.

Head coach Mike Babcock did not elaborate on the severity of the injury after the game and only provided a vague indication if it not being serious i in his update in Buffalo on Thursday morning.

“I don’t really have much, I don’t think there is much going on there to be honest with you.” Babcock said. “(Andersen) wasn’t playing today anyways, so we didn’t bring him (to Buffalo).”

The Leafs brought up Garret Sparks from the Toronto Marlies on emergency recall to backup McElhinney, but there is no indication of what is exactly wrong with Andersen or how long he will be out. Babcock also did not provide any update on the health status of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who will miss his third straight game with unspecified illness.

The NHL debut of Andreas Johnsson got sidetracked in the events of the game on Wednesday. The speedy winger played just 7:34 on the night, mostly because the line was on the ice for two Dallas goals and Babcock shortened his bench trailing in the third.

The rookie will not be in the lineup on Thursday and will be replaced by Matt Martin in what could be a physical contest against Buffalo.

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