5 reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs will win Stanley Cup
By Riley Butler
3. Goaltending
With a win against the Canadiens on Saturday, Frederik Andersen helped the Leafs break records in points and wins in a season but on a solo level the Danish netminder did all Leafs fans a massive favor. Andersen recorded his 38th win of the season, making him the Leafs franchise record holder for most wins in a season by a goaltender taking it away from long time holder Andrew Raycroft.
Now, I promise that this stat is more important than solely for the use of making a joke. This stats shows the level of play that the Leafs have been receiving from their starting goalie this season. Andersen has been playing the best hockey of his career and is without a doubt the Leafs MVP for the season, without him none of this would be possible.
Andersen boasts a 38-21-5 record with a 0.918 save percentage and a 2.81 goals against average. Now while these numbers may not jump out at you at first glance, you must understand the situation he is playing in. Andersen is fourth in the league in wins only behind Connor Hellebuyck, Pekka Rinne and Andrei Vasilevsky whilst being first in the league in total shots against and total saves. Andersen has faced more pucks than any goalie in the league this year and has consistently gone above and beyond the call to action, properly stealing multiple games for the Leafs throughout the season.
The best part is that the Leafs have arguably one of the strongest goaltending duos in the league, and that is definitely a credit to the poise and preparedness of back up Curtis McElhinney. Mike Babcock likes to give McElhinney quite a restricted role as he heavily relies on Andersen and in this role he has succeeded. McElhinney comes in primarily on the second half of back-to-back matchups which usually leads to a tired team in front of him but all season long he has performed. He has an 11-5-1 record this season with a .934 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against average with three shutouts which is a career high.
Both goalies are playing very well and if they can stay hot throughout the playoffs then the Leafs chances will be improved exponentially