To the delight of Toronto Maple Leafs Fans, Frederik Andersen is enjoying a Vezina caliber season. The 28-year-old enters tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild with a 17-9-1 record, 2.69 goals against average and .922 save percentage. Andersen has played in the most games of any goalie along with Mike Smith and Jake Allen with 27 this season.
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Ahead of tonight’s action, Andersen’s former head coach Bruce Boudreau reflected on a conversation he had with Babcock about the goaltender at the 2016 NHL draft after the Leafs acquired him for first and second round draft picks. Boudreau informed the Leafs’ personnel that they were receiving a true winner in the Danish netminder.
Boudreau served as Andersen’s bench boss in Anaheim from 2013-2016. The former was relieved of his duties prior to the team’s decision to trade away the latter.
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Andersen is riding a 10-4 record since November 6th and has been key in helping the Leafs control second place in the Atlantic division. With 934 shots in his 27 contests, he leads the category by a whopping 98 shots fired his way. It’s no surprise that he also leads all goaltenders with 861 saves; 93 more than Smith.
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If Andersen keeps up his pace, he has a chance of becoming the first Maple Leafs goaltender to win the Vezina since Terry Sawchuk and Johnny Bower captured it together in 1965. Time will tell if the Dane is able to put an end to one of the team's longest droughts.
(H/T Kristen Shilton)
