TORONTO – Nikita Soshnikov has missed the last three games with an injury the Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to reveal.
Josh Leivo sat out Saturday’s game in Buffalo and no explanation was provided for his absence.
Eric Fehr blocked a shot with his left hand in Columbus last Wednesday, was seen by reporters wearing a sling the following morning and underwent surgery, according to head coach Mike Babcock, but had his condition officially listed like so by the team: "Eric Fehr did not play on March 23 vs. New Jersey."
You get the point: This is no place to come for reliable injury information at the best of times, let alone when the starting goalie goes down with a mystery ailment in the middle of a playoff race.
That helps explain the scene that played out at the Leafs practice facility on Monday morning, where reporters – including yours truly – provided breathless updates on Frederik Andersen as he went through a warmup under the watchful eye of trainers, returned for a three-goalie practice with Curtis McElhinney and Garret Sparks, and eventually left after about 20 minutes.
He also spoke with reporters, but like Babcock, didn’t provide any meaningful insight into what knocked him out of Saturday’s game and will keep him from starting against Florida here on Tuesday.
"I got bumped pretty early in the game (against the Sabres) and I didn’t feel right the rest of the period," said Andersen. "We discussed with our medical staff and their doctor and just decided to play it safe."
The collision occurred 2:30 into the game with Sabres forward William Carrier attempting a wraparound. Carrier was bumped by Brian Boyle and appeared to make head-to-head contact with Andersen, knocking the Leafs goalie over on to his right side.
Andersen ended up allowing two goals on 16 shots before being replaced by McElhinney to start the second period and indicated that he didn’t consider pulling himself sooner.
"I just felt a little bit off and I just kind of wanted to see what happened in intermission," he said. "Yeah, we decided to take it easy."
The word "off" would seem to suggest a potential concussion – as would Babcock’s assertion that it was the Sabres doctor who pulled Andersen from the game – but there was yet more ambiguity when Andersen was asked directly if he’s experiencing any symptoms associated with a head injury.
"No. No, I don’t want to get too much into that stuff," he said. "We just want to make sure I get back into the net as quick as possible."
It will be McElhinney who starts against the Panthers, providing an unexpected turn for an organization trying to secure its second playoff berth in 13 years. The 33-year-old McElhinney is a career NHL backup and couldn’t recall getting a bigger start previously.
How many more he gets beyond it will be a point of great interest in these parts.
The Leafs are staring down the barrel of a treacherous stretch of eight games in 13 days to finish this promising season. They are going to need at least two goalies to get through it and Sparks – with a .927 save percentage in the American Hockey League – could end up being one of them.
"(Andersen’s injury) doesn’t appear to be long," said Babcock. "I mean obviously that’s great. But the way I look at injuries all the time, it’s the same, is it’s opportunity for Mac here. He gets to get prepared and play, and we’ve got to play real well and get ourselves a win."
Andersen missed time at the end of last season in Anaheim with an injury the team called a concussion. He also sat out the World Cup in September and the start of Leafs training camp with a shoulder injury he suffered during the Olympic qualifying tournament with Denmark.
On Monday, he indicated that he was looking to get his feel back.
Head athletic therapist Paul Ayotte and members of the Leafs sports science team watched intently as Andersen went through his paces with goalie coach Steve Briere. At one point, Andersen went over to the bench and stretched his right arm above his head while Ayotte rubbed his shoulder.
He ended up participating in roughly half of the full-team practice, a regiment that was prescribed to him ahead of time.
Babcock took four or five questions on Andersen’s situation, but steered well clear of any specifics.
"It was just the doctor’s protocol," he said. "The beauty about the injury department around here, I’m not in charge. It makes it easy for me. So they tell me when the guy’s back – they told me he wasn’t available today, but things are real good."
We’ll be back tomorrow to find out.
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