How Netflix helped Frederik Andersen get his groove back for Maple Leafs

TORONTO — Netflix is working wonders for Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen.

The 27-year-old has come around considerably in the last week following a rough introduction to the Toronto market, yielding two goals or less in four straight starts. He’s stopped 144-of-151 shots in that span (.954 save percentage), including 42 of 43 in a 2-1 win over Buffalo on Thursday night.

The turnaround is owing, at least somewhat, to Andersen shrugging off rising pressures of his first weeks as a Leaf. He conceded that his initial struggles, which included an .851 save percentage in his first five starts, were between the ears. He was putting too much pressure on himself, trying to do too much in the crease.

Leafs coach Mike Babcock said methods to distract the mind outside the rink would help. For Andersen that was a good dose of Netflix, the video streaming service. His favourite show, of late, is “Suits”, a legal drama that Andersen was excited to see filming around Toronto. He’s not been a fan, mind you, of “Stranger Things”, an eerie sci-fi throwback.

“It’s a little weird,” Andersen said. “I’m not really into those supernatural shows.”

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Babcock spoke to Andersen the day after he was lit up for a career-worst seven goals against the Lightning and professed his confidence in him. He said that fans in Toronto wanted to get behind him and hoped he was great.

Andersen was receptive to the advice and took to heart Babcock’s suggestion about leaving the game behind when he left the rink.

“It’s important if you’re feeling down on yourself that you can’t bring it home and keep thinking about it more and more because that’s going to be a spiral that goes in the wrong direction pretty fast,” said Andersen, who has a 4-2-3 record and .903 save percentage overall this season. “You’ve just got to try to break out of it and make sure (you have) good positive thoughts when you go home.”

The Leafs gave up 40-plus shots for the second straight game against the Sabres, but Andersen proved up to the challenge. The best of his 42 stops (and one of four “bell-ringers” as Babcock described them) came late in the first period when he lunged from right to left and got a left pad on Zemgus Girgensons, who seemingly had an open cage to shoot at.

That kept the score 1-0 for Toronto, which went on to win their second straight and third in four games behind the Dane.

“Obviously you see the goalie you traded for and the kind of goalie he is,” Babcock said of Andersen, acquired in June from Anaheim. “For whatever reason he got off-kilter and put too pressure on himself and then wasn’t able to be who he was. He got himself under control. Who knows if (that’s because of) conversations (with him) or getting hit or what happened in practice I don’t think you ever know.

“You just try to do good things and believe in your people and good things will happen. He’s our guy. We all know it and he’s done a nice job for us.”

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press