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Kapanen filling the void, Andersen unsure of availability

October 16, 2018, 4:28 PM ET [379 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their winning ways in the opener of a three-game homestand with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, but concerns over the health status of goalie Frederik Andersen may have the club looking for help between the pipes in the short term.

Kasperi Kapanen scored a pair, Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau scored for Toronto, Auston Matthews added two assists (making the 21-year-old the fifth player in NHL history to record multiple point games in his first seven games) and Garret Sparks made 33 saves for his second victory of the season.



Kapanen, who was promoted to the Matthews line in the first period of the game against the Blackhawks on October 7, has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in the last five games and has compensated for the absence of winger William Nylander.

“(Kapanen’s) three years previous and the work he has put in, how much stronger he's gotten, more poised -- he's taking advantage of it, you've got to give him credit.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “He's scoring at an unbelievable rate, but he's physical and he's fast and he's tenacious. That line has been good and they were playing against good players tonight. He was good.”

The Leafs played better defensively than they had in the previous six games, limiting the Kings to only a few quality scoring chances and lightening the workload of Sparks, who had a shaky debut against Chicago earlier this month.

“When you're starting the season on the road in Chicago, Stan Mikita night, there's a lot of stuff buzzing around. It was a really emotional day for me. Today was more I found out I was playing and I prepared myself accordingly.” Sparks said after the game. “(The win is) just due to having guys boxing out in front of you and cleaning up rebounds and coming back and playing tough (in the) defensive zone. Our D’s sticks were awesome all night, guys were getting sticks on everything.”



Babcock was emphatic after the game that Andersen, who was listed as day-to-day with a knee injury after the morning skate on Monday would be in goal for the club’s next game against Pittsburgh on Thursday, but the big Dane indicated that there is still swelling in his knee after tweaking it last Saturday and that he hopes that it will go down in time for the match against the Penguins.

“The swelling (made it) uncomfortable to be in the positions that I need to be in,” Andersen said after practice at the Mastercard Centre on Tuesday. “Hopefully the swelling will settle down. Today progressed pretty good.”



Eamon McAdam was emergency recalled from the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers on Monday and may be on standby this week with the staue of Andersen and Kasimir Kaskisuo up in the air. Kaskisuo was pulled from both weekend games against Utica and a update on his status has not been revealed, but the Marlies do not play until Friday in Rochester.


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