Andersen bails out Maple Leafs again in win over Predators

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The way Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock saw it, Wednesday's game against the Nashville Predators was a major mid-term test for his team.

If the Maple Leafs are serious about making their first lasting playoff push in more than 14 years, then they had to show they can play the defensive, playoff-style game the Predators have mastered. That style took the Preds to their first Stanley Cup final last June and it had them second in the NHL's tough Central Division coming into the game with a 32-12-7 record.

"I think you're playing all these games in the league and every once in a while … you have a team that's high in the standings and a team that went very deep last year, so you have a chance to see where you're at, to see if you're any good or not," Babcock said after the game-day skate. "We think we are but you've got to show it on a nightly basis."

Well, as long as you can keep it close it's tough to fail in the NHL, and the Leafs pulled out a 3-2 win in the shootout. So even though the Leafs let the Predators open up their attack as the game went on, letting go of a two-goal lead, they can thank goaltender Frederik Andersen for bailing them out.

He stopped 46 shots through overtime and then made his biggest one seven players into the shootout. Andersen's stop on Viktor Arvidsson, whom he also denied a few times in regulation, made James van Riemsdyk's shootout goal stand up as the winner.

Andersen heard the crowd chanting his name several times at the Air Canada Centre thanks to his work. "It's fun," he said. "We have great fans here. It means a lot when you get their support."

Babcock didn't mind getting the win but he wasn't ready to issue any passing grades to his players, as he felt they began slipping after Nashville's first goal late in the second period. By that point, the Predators were taking the play to the Leafs. "We have a ways to go," he said.

The game was also a test for the onlookers, at least through the first 30 minutes or so. The tight checking in the first half bore no resemblance to the highly entertaining track meet on Monday night when the Leafs beat the Anaheim Ducks 7-4.

Both teams played a Babcock dream game through most of the first period – not allowing each other any room to get movement through the neutral zone. By the 11-minute mark of the first period, the shots on goal stood at 2-2.

However, as the night wore on things loosened up a little and it was the Maple Leafs who stepped forward first, scoring the first two goals of the game and taking a 2-1 lead into the third period. But they could thank their goaltender for that lead, as Andersen made several big saves to prevent the Predators from getting on the scoreboard first and then preserving that lead.

Andersen showed no effects from the solid hit he took on the chin from Ducks forward Corey Perry's skate. He was sharp from the start and stayed that way, denying Arvidsson on a second-period breakaway among other stops, as the Predators pressed hard as the game went on. His best save might have been getting a pad on a wraparound try by centre Ryan Johansen as the last minute of the third period approached. By the end of regulation time, Andersen had 41 saves.

Leafs forward William Nylander was especially happy about this, as Andersen bailed him out on an egregious mistake 14 minutes into the first period. Nylander somehow thought a no-look pass in his own zone was a good idea and the puck wound up in the slot on the stick of Nashville centre Colton Sissons. But Andersen robbed him on the game's first real scoring chance.

Two minutes later, the Leafs created their own turnover to grab the lead. They victimized Predators defenceman P.K. Subban on each of their first two goals, making his visit to his hometown rather unpleasant.

On the first one, Leafs winger Connor Brown stole the puck from Subban in the Nashville zone. He fed James van Riemsdyk in the high slot and his shot hit Predators defenceman Alexei Emelin's stick and bounced past goaltender Pekka Rinne.

The Leafs went up 2-0 midway through the second period when forward Kasperi Kapanen scored a brilliant shorthanded goal that started with Subban. Kapanen flipped the puck over Subban to get a partial breakaway with Nashville forward Craig Smith giving chase.

Despite his speed, Kapanen could not shake Smith, so he wove to the left of the net to create some space and then put a shot between Rinne's legs. That goal may well settle the question of whether or not Kapanen, whose latest promotion to the Leafs from the Toronto Marlies farm team was on Jan. 5, stays in the lineup.

"He's a great goalie and I'm lucky that went in," Kapanen said of scoring on his fellow Finn Rinne.

Kapanen, an offensive star as he developed in hockey, only began killing penalties regularly a couple of years ago with the Marlies. When he was promoted in January he started doing it at the NHL level and now he appears to be a double threat.

"I've been doing it for a couple years now. At first I didn't know what to expect," Kapanen said. "The coaching staff and everybody in the organization was helpful.

"I have never done it before. I think it's a natural reaction to not know what to expect but it's been lots of fun."

But the Leafs could not make their good fortune last, as two of Andersen's earlier victims tied the score by the first minute of the third period.

The first was Sissons, who scored late in the second period when a bounce went his way. That bounce was a puck that went off the helmet of van Riemsdyk and landed in the slot at the feet of Sissons. His chip shot eluded Andersen.

Then Arvidsson struck 25 seconds into the third period thanks to an Auston Matthews faux pas. Arvidsson himself threw the puck into the slot in the Leafs zone where it hit Matthews, who kicked it right back to him for an easy shot and his 18th goal of the season.