Daily Faceoff Show: McKenna on Frederik Andersen & Sergei Bobrovsky’s strong starts
On Thursday’s episode of The Daily Faceoff Show, former NHL goaltender Mike McKenna took a look at a pair of veteran goaltenders having bounce-back performances early in the 2021-22 season.
Frederik Andersen had a difficult season last year in Toronto due to injuries but he’s been incredible through his first few games with the Carolina Hurricanes. Sergei Bobrovsky, facing strong competition from rookie Spencer Knight, is also playing his best hockey since joining the Florida Panthers.
Here are McKenna’s takes on Andersen and Bobrovsky…
On Freddy Andersen’s resurgence…
“Andersen has looked very good so far this season. He’s 5-0 and he just looks rejuvenated.
Last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he had injuries, he was out of the lineup, he never seemed to find his rhythm when he came back in and you wonder about how much of the physical struggle you have plays off mentally as well.
You have to be healthy both ways and, in a market like Toronto, if you aren’t able to play at 100 percent, you can’t hide your deficiencies on a team that wasn’t great defensively at all times last year and didn’t help Freddy Andersen.
I still think Freddy Andersen is an excellent goaltender in the NHL and he’s showing it now. He’s been one of the most consistent, statistically speaking, goaltenders in the NHL. He’s been hovering just under a .920 save percentage for the better part of a decade at this point.
The biggest difference I see this year is that Freddy Andersen is crushing it in the high-danger chances. Last year, he was pretty low on the list, making 64 percent of those saves. This year, he’s saving almost 75 percent of high-danger chances. That’s what’s propelling his team.
I had Carolina at No. 14 in terms of preseason rankings for goalie tandems. I had them ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs at No. 19 and I had people come at me for it, but it’s making my bet look pretty good because Freddy Andersen has been on top of his game.”
On Sergei Bobrovsky’s hot start…
“Bob isn’t giving it up. I ranked the Panthers No. 7 on my list of goaltending tandems, him and Spencer Knight I thought were going to be a dynamic duo and they have been so far. There’s motivation at play here. Bob knew he had to get it together otherwise Spencer Knight was going to take that crease.
According to Money Puck dot com, Bobrovsky has done everything he can so far this year. His goals saved above expected is leading the entire NHL. And look at the tale of two seasons here. Last year, his goals against was 2.91, he’s at a 1.79 now. The save percentage is also through the roof.
What I think is going well for Bob is that he’s more patient on his edges. He isn’t chasing the puck as much, he isn’t down early. He’s done that the last couple of years. He’s down on his post, he’s getting beat laterally often. Florida has done a good job at limiting those opportunities but when he’s seeing those shots from clean areas, he’s making saves and he’s doing it in high-danger areas, much like Andersen.
I’m really bullish on Bob right now. He works really hard and I think that the goalie department and the coaching from Rob Tallis to Roberto Luongo to Francois Allaire is really paying dividends there for the Panthers.
You can watch the full episode here…