Andersen makes 16 saves in return from injury, Maple Leafs fall to Stars
via NHL.com
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves in his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs, a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
The goalie missed four games with a neck injury sustained in a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 3.
“They came pretty hard on those turnovers, but that’s their game,” Andersen said. “I felt good. I would have liked to come up with a couple of saves early on in those two periods, especially, even in the third. Obviously, would have been nice to come out with a win. They have their structure and they stick to it through the game. Them getting a lead is huge for their style of play and they just try to shut ‘er down and make the best of their opportunities. That’s really what happened today.”
Tyler Seguin ended a 17-game goal drought for the Stars (33-19-5), who have won three in a row. Denis Gurianov and Radek Faksa scored, and Ben Bishop made 27 saves.
Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman scored for the Maple Leafs (30-20-8).
They said it
“We kept saying he’s doing a lot of things to help us win games. We’re right there knocking on the door for first place and he’s been a huge part of it regardless of what the point totals tell us. It’s easy for us to say that because we see the good things he brings to the table every night, but everyone else just wants to look at the score sheet. There’s a big weight off his shoulders and we’re very happy for him. We got the two points and I know he’ll be more excited about the two points than the goal.” — Stars coach Rick Bowness on Seguin ending a 17-game goal drought
“I thought we made it really challenging for him, he hasn’t played [in a while] and the first shot of the game, we let their guy come from the top of the circles in. So we didn’t help him in that regard. It was probably a tougher game for him but we have to do a better job for him in terms of getting goals and helping to get him some support.” — Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe on Andersen’s return
Need to know
Maple Leafs forward Andreas Johnsson sustained a knee injury in the first period. Keefe said the injury would “not be short term.” … Tavares extended his point streak to six games (five goals, four assists).
What’s next
Stars: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNE, TVAS, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNO, SNW, SNP, NHL.TV)