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The Toronto Maple Leafs played catch up for most of the night against the Calgary Flames, and after erasing a pair of two-goal leads could not answer Mark Giordano’s power-play goal midway through the second period in a 4-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.
Jason Spezza, Alex Kerfoot and Mitch Marner scored for Toronto in their first game after a four-day break, but the Leafs were chasing Calgary from the outset, as Frederik Andersen allowed the Flames to take the lead on their first shot on goal and was beaten three times on his first seven shots.
The Toronto special teams once again failed the club, as their penalty killing allowed a power play goal for the third straight game and seventh goal against in 17 shorthanded situations, while the club went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, including two power plays with a chance to tie the game in the third period.
“It’s a tough sport to play any time you give up the first shot on net.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “When things are going the way they had been for us as a team, you get some time to regroup a little bit and then to have the first shot end up in your net, that’s tough. I think there’s traffic there, on the way in it changes direction. We find our way back, we get the game all tied and then you lose a draw on the penalty kill and, again, it goes in off of our guy’s ass again a second time. Some tough luck there. That’s the way it’s going.…
Since returning to the lineup on March 3rd, Andersen is 2-5-0, with a 3.42 GAA and .876 save percentage. In past seasons, it was right to blame the Leafs unorganized team defense, which forced him to make 30+, saves on most nights. The last couple weeks Toronto has not played as well defensively as they did earlier in the season, but they have averaged less than 27 shots on goal during that span, which means the onus on their recent downturn is more on the goaltending.
The odds of GM Kyle Dubas bringing another goaltender before the April 12 trade deadline is very slim, so a change in fortune either rests on backup Jack Campbell staying healthy and playing a string of games to allow Andersen to gather himself or recover from the nagging injury he hinted at earlier this week, or Andersen will have to fight through his recent difficulties and play better than the sub .900 goaltender he is currently.
Keefe indicated that there will be no lineup changes for the Leafs on Saturday, except for Campbell starting for the first time since February 27. David Rittich is expected to get the start for Calgary.
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) March 18, 2021
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