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It does not matter if it is called the Marine Midland Arena, HSBC Arena, the First Niagara Center or Key Bank Center, one thing has been a constant about the big building that lies at the foot of Lake Erie and the Niagara River; it is a graveyard for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jack Eichel scored a pair of goals, as the Sabres soundly thrashed the Leafs 5-2 in Buffalo on Saturday, but the focus of attention was not Toronto’s 18th loss in the last 21 games in the Queen City or the end of the Leafs three-game winning streak, but the health of Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, who did not emerge from the locker room for the second period after suffering an upper-body injury.
Andersen allowed goals by Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane in the opening 20 minutes, but appeared sharp in making 14 saves, including an impressive cross-crease stop on Kane late in the first.
Curtis McElhinney replaced Andersen to start the second and Toronto quickly tied the game on Auston Matthews club-leading 34th goal of the season, but Eichel responded with a power play tally 25 seconds later and added another goal late in the middle frame, along with Dmitri Kulikov’s second goal of the year.
“We weren’t very good. For whatever reason they were quicker, they were better, they were hungrier. Obviously coming into the game I thought we had more the play for than they did.” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “Pride is a wonderful thing and if you get your group to dig in like they did tonight, they look good and we didn’t. So good for them and obviously we’ve got to fix whatever, we weren’t good enough. Period.”
Babcock indicated that he did not notice any problem with his goalie in the first period and that after being examined by Sabres team doctors during the intermission, they advised that Andersen not return to the game, which may be a hint that the review was tied to the league’s concussion protocol.
“Obviously the other team’s doctor thought he should come out of the game, so he came out of the game.” Babcock said.
The Leafs have a day off on Sunday and practice on Monday in preparation for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, when Babcock will be able to provide an update on Andersen’s status.
“Once our doctor has seen him (Sunday), then I’ll have a better handle on what’s going on and I’ll be able to tell you.” Babcock said.
The severity of Andersen’s injury could hold Toronto’s playoff future in the balance, as the race in the East got tighter on Saturday with Boston moving to within one point of the Leafs with a 2-1 win over the Islanders. New York just three points in back of Toronto and Tampa Bay is just four points behind.
The Leafs have eight games remaining over the final two weeks (Florida, at Nashville, at Detroit, at Buffalo, Washington, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Columbus) and need to win half of them to reach 93 points.
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