In a little over 48 hours, Frederik Andersen went from sustaining a scary injury to stealing the show.
The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender was forced out of Monday's 7-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks after taking a skate to the face in the second period. Two days later, Andersen was back in net against the Nashville Predators for his 46th start of the season.
His timing couldn't have been better.
The red-hot Predators headed into Wednesday's contest at the Air Canada Centre having won three straight games, with each victory punctuated by five Nashville goals. The visitors were clearly eager to maintain their high-octane offence as they poured 46 shots at Andersen, with the Toronto netminder turning away 44 of them.
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Toronto rode Andersen's stellar play to overtime tied 2-2, but the game wouldn't have gotten that far without the 28-year-old's biggest save of the night late in the third period. Predators forward Ryan Johansen attempted a wraparound only to meet Andersen's outstretched right leg stopping a surefire goal.
Frederik Andersen with a massive save on Ryan Johansen pic.twitter.com/xyIKMhGE66
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) February 8, 2018
The stalemate continued through overtime and six rounds of shootout attempts before James van Riemsdyk's wrist shot sealed the 3-2 victory for the Leafs. Andersen's 44-save performance pushed him to the top of the NHL for wins while stopping 40 or more shots this season.
Frederik Andersen made 44 saves through regulation and overtime to earn his League-leading fifth win when making 40 or more saves. #NHLStats #NSHvsTOR pic.twitter.com/NNZCDWN1Bg
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 8, 2018
Toronto is 7-2-1 over its last 10 games.