Corey Perry may be an unstoppable scoring machine, but Anaheim’s net minder is quietly putting together an impressive postseason body of work.
For the first twenty minutes of last night’s Western Conference Semifinals Game 2, the Anaheim Ducks were absolutely taking it to the Calgary Flames.
If not for the stellar play of Flames goal tender Karri Ramo, the Ducks could have easily entered the first intermission sitting on top of a comfortable 3-0 or even 4-0 lead, instead of the closer-than-it-looked 1-0 lead they enjoyed.
Then the second period began, and for most of the next 40 minutes, Anaheim found itself on its heels, as the Flames were using their speed and sense of desperation to take the fight to the Ducks over and over again. It truly was a shock, given how utterly dominant the Ducks had been for four straight period (all of Game 1 and the first period of this one).
By the time the final horn sounded, the Flames had gone from being outshot 20-9 in the first period to firing 30 shots, compared to Anaheim’s 34, at Frederik Andersen. Problem is, even though the Flames outplayed Anaheim for those 40 minutes, Andersen was not in a particularly giving mood, earning the first postseason shutout of his young NHL career.
As a result, the Anaheim Ducks have a solid 2-0 lead over the Flames, and Frederik Andersen is arguably playing the best out of any of the remaining goal tenders in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If you want to argue against me, you’d best not be bringing any statistics to the table. Among active net minders, Andersen has the best GAA, is tied for the best save percentage with Washington’s Braden Holtby, and is tied with Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop for most wins and shutouts. (Screenshot taken from NHL.com)
Courtesy of NHL.com
The numbers don’t lie, folks – but then again, they don’t tell you the full story, either. Andersen has not been required to make many jaw-dropping saves during this postseason, which is why he isn’t receiving much in the way of accolades just yet. Still, for a team that entered the postseason with a lot of questions about how strong they would be at the goal tender position, the Ducks have become awfully tough to score on, thanks to Andersen’s steady play.
What Frederik Andersen has been doing is not spectacular, but that is entirely due to the fact that he has yet to be caught out of position. Take for instance this point-blank stoning of Calgary’s Mikael Backlund in period two last night:
That’s a ho-hum save on a fluky play, as one of the Ducks collided with a Flames player, leaving Backlund wide open in front of Andersen. No problem – Freddie was right where he had to be, and the save was made.
Here’s another one of those saves that you never really think twice about, but illustrates how in control of his game Andersen currently is:
Andersen watches as Dennis Wideman skates behind the net, so he slides over, using his skate, body and stick to seal off the post and the bottom of the net. Textbook goaltending, and Andersen makes it look absolutely boring.
My wife, who knows just enough about hockey to be dangerous, courtesy of watching our son play this season, made the comment in the first period that Andersen was going to fall asleep in net since the Ducks were taking it to the Flames. “He’s going to lose his focus and give up a softie back there,” she said, and Lord knows we have all seen that happen in tie great sport. Problem is, Andersen is locked in right now. He is seeing the puck beautifully, he is always in the right position, and he looks like he is barely breaking a sweat.
All of which means that, hell yes, Frederik Andersen is tending goal as good as anyone still playing in the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs today.