Every National Hockey League team that has visions of raising the Stanley Cup at the end of the season must have an elite No. 1 goalie.
Not only must that goaltender be a force who helps his team clinch a playoff spot. he also has to step up huge when the chips are down in the post-season.
On Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a big game against the Florida Panthers — and some ground in the playoff race — in part because starting netminder Frederik Andersen went down with what the team is calling an upper-body injury.
The 30-year-old Leafs veteran endured a blow to his head and neck area in the first period when he was bumped by Florida’s Frank Vatrano and did not return for the start of the second period.
He will be reevaluated Tuesday morning, but if Andersen is forced to miss an extended period of time, you might as well stick a fork in Toronto’s playoff chances. As glowingly as the players in the Leafs dressing room speak of backup Michael Hutchinson, I don’t think he is capable of carrying the load for the team.
Entering Monday’s game, Andersen has a 24-9-6 record with a 2.87 goals-against average and .910 save percentage and has averaged 35 wins a season in his three-plus years with the Leafs so it is easy to see how valuable he is to the organization.
As of right now, the Maple Leafs are on the outside of the playoff race, one point behind Florida for third place in the Atlantic Division and one point behind the New York Islanders for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto dominated the Panthers in the second period, allowing the visitors only three shots on net, but then imploded in the third period by allowing four goals on 10 shots.
Now, not all the blame should be shouldered by Hutchinson, who is now 4-8-1 on the season, but the Leafs are a different team — and a non-playoff team — without Andersen between the pipes.
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