Freddie Andersen will start in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues, and from all accounts, it’s a “bounce back” game for the personable backstopper. “Well, he wasn’t good enough,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said when asked about Andersen’s recent spate of games in which he allowed 22 goals over four starts. “But at times of the year you have little dips, so you make sure you work hard every day so the dips don’t last as long and don’t happen as often. “Freddie goes for us tonight, and it’s an opportunity to bounce back.”Andersen, who sports a 22-11 record with a 2.81 goals-against average and .914 save percentage, agreed with his coach when it comes to work ethic. Andersen said the most important aspect for a goalie during a personal slump is to remain focused on his practice routine, and “just do what you do.”“That’s all there is at this point, sometimes you lose your game here and there, but you battle back and work hard, and have good practices … that’s what its all about,” said Andersen, whose 43 games played so far this season match his total from last season, and is less than a dozen behind his career high in appearances of 54, set two seasons ago with Anaheim.

Source: thestar February 09, 2017 18:09 UTC