Last night things went from bad to worse for veteran goalie Jonas Hiller in the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Hiller gave up four goals on eight shots before being yanked with the game less than a period old. Rookie goalie and new fan favorite, Freddie Andersen, came in the game in relief.
Andersen played the rest of the first and all of the second period, stopping five of the six shots he faced in relief of Hiller. Freddie was unable to return for the third period with what the team is calling an 'upper body' injury.
Hiller came back into the game and played much better but it didn't matter. The Ducks failed to rally from a multi-goal deficit for a third consecutive game and instead they limped quietly into an old abandoned barn and died.
The loss was significant in two ways...first, Anaheim failed to widen the gap between themselves and the San Jose Sharks. They still lead the Sharks by one point in the race for the Pacific Division.
Second, they lost Andersen, albeit briefly. Bruce Boudreau said the rookie goalie had a hheadache after being run over by Preds defenseman Shea Weber. As of this morning, He is not expected to miss any time.
That in itself is good news. The only downside I see is that any hit to the head has the potential to become an issue in the future. We'll have to keep an eye on that.
If healthy, I have to believe Andersen sees the bulk of the work from this point on and into the playoffs.
Having potentially lost Andersen and having traded away Viktor Fasth as the deadline, the Ducks would have been forced to go back to Jonas Hiller full-time. I don't think there is a single person out there that believes the Ducks can win with Hiller in net.
Heck, most people don't think the Ducks can win period. BUT, I believe Andersen at least gives them a fighting chance.
Jonas has been brutal of late. He's surrendered three of more goals in six of his last nine starts (3-3-3) and appears to have little, if any, confidence between the pipes.
Hiller is an unrestricted free-agent this summer and is already earning $4.5 million per season. With Andersen, Igor Bobkov and John Gibson in the system, does it make any sense to re-sign him?
I don't see it.
Anaheim returns to the ice tomorrow for the first of a crucial back-to-back Canadian swing. Unfortunately, it looks like we may be forced to endure at least one more start for Hiller.
Thanks for reading!