{"id":25407,"date":"2018-03-15T12:35:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T16:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=25407"},"modified":"2018-03-15T12:46:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T16:46:53","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-goalie-frederik-andersen-does-not-travel-with-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/03\/15\/toronto-maple-leafs-goalie-frederik-andersen-does-not-travel-with-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie Frederik Andersen Does Not Travel With Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> goalie Frederik Andersen<\/strong> did not travel with the team and will miss tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>\u00a0due to an upper-body injury. Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney<\/strong> is expected to get the start. The exact timeline for Andersen’s injury has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

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Andersen didn’t make the trip to Buffalo, but Matthews did<\/p>\n

Auston is still wearing that red ? jersey … will miss an 8th straight game tonight<\/p>\n

Leafs 3-2-2 during his latest absence<\/p>\n

Sparks is here and will back-up tonight pic.twitter.com\/tK44EmDOVU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 15, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frederik Andersen Out With an Upper-Body Injury<\/h1>\n

Andersen left Wednesday nights game against the Dallas Stars<\/a> after the first commercial break of the second period.\u00a0Head coach Mike Babcock<\/strong> said the injury occurred when Stars forward Alexander Radulov<\/strong> ran into Andersen in the first period.<\/p>\n

Toronto has leaned heavily on Andersen this season. The netminder from Herning, Denmark has started 59 games for Toronto sporting a 33-18-5 record, with a 2.79 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. The Maple Leafs acquired Andersen from the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> on June 20th, 2016. This is Andersen’s second year in Toronto. He played 66 games last year, finishing with a 33-16-14 record.<\/p>\n

What This Means<\/h3>\n

Curtis McElhinney<\/a> will start the majority, if not all, of the of Toronto’s games in Andersen’s absence. McElhinney has only played in back-to-back situations or in relief of Andersen this season so his workload is about to substantially increase. In just 14 appearances this season McElhinney has a 8-4-1\u00a0record with a 2.27 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.<\/p>\n

To backup McElhinney, the Maple Leafs have recalled goaltender Garret Sparks<\/a> from the Toronto Marlies on an emergency basis. In 34 starts for the Marlies, Sparks is 23-8-1 with a 1.84 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.<\/p>\n

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The @MapleLeafs<\/a> announced today that the club has recalled goaltender Garret Sparks from the @TorontoMarlies<\/a> (AHL) on an emergency basis. #TMLtalk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) March 15, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n