TORONTO — The Maple Leafs finally got goaltender Jack Campbell back from a leg injury last weekend, only to now have Frederik Andersen's status in question again due to a nagging lower-body injury.
Fortunately for Toronto, Campbell has been terrific in limited action. Saturday’s 2-0 win over Calgary marked Campbell’s second consecutive shutout, and he’s a perfect 4-0-0 with a .965 save percentage on the season.
Toronto won’t have to name a starting goaltender until resuming play against Ottawa on Thursday, but Campbell could start seeing a lot more time in the cage moving ahead.
“Certainly [when it] comes to this level and you haven't played as much, [regular starts] are different in terms of how you manage it mentally and physically,” coach Sheldon Keefe on a post-practice Zoom call Monday. “Add in the fact that [Campbell] is a guy that's been fighting injuries this season, and that's a whole other side of it we've got to manage as well.”
Campbell was making his second start of the season in Calgary on Jan. 24 when he originally suffered a leg injury that would resurface in his next start against Edmonton on Feb. 27. There wasn’t much that Campbell or the Leafs could do to improve his situation beyond rest and patience, much like the situation Andersen seems to find himself in now.
His lower-body injury originally came about on Feb. 15 against Montreal, at which point Andersen was riding a 7-2-1 record in his past 10 games with a .906 save percentage.
He returned on March 3 after missing six games and put in a 26-save performance against Edmonton. Andersen’s play deteriorated from there over a 2-7-0 stretch with .876 save percentage and 3.42 goals-against average.
Andersen admitted to reporters last Thursday that he wasn’t exactly as his best physically.
“I'm not really where I want to be obviously,” he said. “I think I'm working towards just getting to as good as possible. It's just a matter of how well you can manage [the injury] and play through it, and you try to do the best you can to play as well as you can.”
The last start Andersen made was Friday, where he gave up four goals on 18 shots against Calgary for a season-low .778 save percentage. Michael Hutchinson dressed as the backup for Campbell the following night because Andersen was not available to play due to injury.
Neither Campbell nor Andersen took part in the Leafs’ skills-based practice on Monday, with Keefe clarifying it was just a rest day for Campbell and he’ll be fine to participate on Tuesday.
Andersen isn’t expected to practice Tuesday, and if that continues throughout the week, Campbell will be Toronto’s guy for the time being.
“Whether he's in the net or on the bench, he brings life to the group,” Keefe said of Campbell. “He's a fun guy to be around, the guys enjoy interactions with him and when he goes in the net, they know that he's going to compete. And they want to compete right alongside him. I think the guys want to play for him, so that is a very important thing.”
Watching Campbell battle through his leg injury not once but twice was inspiring for other Leafs to see, especially when he was able to maintain a high level of positivity.
“He approaches every day with a great attitude. He works hard, he's an extremely good teammate and players just like being around him because of who he is as a person,” said Morgan Rielly. “And I think that's the most important thing; he brings that attitude every day where he's going to work hard and he's just going to be a part of the team no matter what. I think that's a great person to have on your side and we're happy to have him and he's playing well for us.”
Without a timeline for when Andersen might be up and running, the Leafs also recalled Ian Scott to the taxi squad earlier Monday. He and Hutchinson were the only goalies to take part in Toronto’s skills-based practice with Toronto’s forward group. Along with Campbell and Andersen missing the sessions, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl also got the day off.
Toronto had previously been adding Joseph Woll to its taxi squad when needed, but Keefe decided it was time to get another goalie involved.
Scott hasn’t appeared in a game at any level since his 2018-19 season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. The 22-year-old was meant to play for the AHL’s Marlies in 2019-20, but missed that entire year with a hip injury. He underwent surgery to correct issues related to the impingement of the hip in December 2019, and was fully recovered when the Marlies were finally up and running in February after pandemic-related delays.
But Scott was sidelined with a groin injury before the team had played its first game, and had been listed as week-to-week since Feb. 15. Now that Scott’s turned the corner on recovering, Keefe saw an opportunity.
“We didn't want to disrupt Joe Woll, who’s getting starts with the Marlies as he's getting into a routine there,” he said. “We’ve had to disrupt him probably too much already. We just thought now that Scott's working his way back to full health, and hasn't yet played, that it was just easier for him to come up instead of Woll.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiW2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRzbi5jYS9rcmlzdGVuLXNoaWx0b24tdG9yb250by1tYXBsZS1sZWFmcy1mYWNpbmctcXVlc3Rpb25zLWluLWNyZWFzZS0xLjE2MTE2ODXSAWNodHRwczovL3d3dy50c24uY2Eva3Jpc3Rlbi1zaGlsdG9uLXRvcm9udG8tbWFwbGUtbGVhZnMtZmFjaW5nLXF1ZXN0aW9ucy1pbi1jcmVhc2UtMS4xNjExNjg1P3Rzbi1hbXA?oc=5
2021-03-22 19:16:12Z
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