The Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to be without starting goaltender Frederik Andersen for at least the next three games as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury.
Andersen underwent a follow-up appointment on Thursday for a lower-body injury that has plagued the goaltender for at least a month.
“The feedback that I’ve been given is that he is progressing well,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ll continue to monitor him and reassess him next week.”
Andersen to the Leafs lineup on Mar. 3 after missing the previous two weeks with a lower-body injury. Since that time, the team’s No. 1 goaltender struggled to regain his form. Â
He went 2-5-0 in March and posted an .876 save percentage in that span.
The timeline for Andersen’s return remains unclear, with the only clarity provided was that the goaltender would not join the team for the current road trip.
There are three games remaining on the trip. The Maple Leafs take on the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and conclude with back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames on Sunday and Monday.
There continues to be a cloud of secrecy pertaining to Andersen’s injury. On Mar. 18, Andersen revealed that he wasn’t 100 percent healthy.
“I’m not really where I want to be obviously,” Andersen said. “I think I’m working towards just getting as good as possible. I think everyone goes through a season where we all have something going on. It’s just a matter of how well you can manage it and play through it.”
When Jack Campbell returned a couple of days later from a lingering leg injury, Andersen was taken out of the lineup and hasn’t skated since.
Campbell improved to 7-0-0 after making 26 saves in a 3-1 victory against the Jets on Wednesday.
He took part in practice with the team on Thursday, a positive sign as the team tries to manage his health.
‘It’s nice to have him out there, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a relief,” Keefe said when asked about Campbell. “We’ve been going along a plan with him and I’ve never been too concerned about it in terms of how we were managing it whether he took the day off or not today.”
The Maple Leafs spent some time working on a power play that has missed on their last 24 opportunities.
“We got to get our consistency back we’re just getting pucks there,” Mitch Marner said about the power play. “Eventually, one is going to drop.”
The Leafs practiced with the same forward groups and defensive pairs that used for the first of back-to-back games against the Jets. All indications are that will continue in the rematch.
