Maple Leafs recall Sparks with Andersen out
The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Garret Sparks from the AHL, the team announced Thursday.
Workhorse starter Frederik Andersen left Wednesday's contest versus the Dallas Stars with an upper-body injury, prompting the emergency call-up of Sparks as the team heads to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Thursday night.
Head coach Mike Babcock said Curtis McElhinney, who secured Toronto's 6-5 shootout win over Dallas, will start against Buffalo.
There's no word yet on how long Andersen will be unavailable, but Babcock doesn't seem overly concerned.
Not much of an update on Andersen from Babcock
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 15, 2018
"I don't think there's much going on there. He wasn't going to play tonight anyway."
Zaitsev remains out with illness
Sparks has put together a tremendous season with the AHL-leading Toronto Marlies, posting a 24-8-2 record along with a league-leading 1.78 goals against average and a tremendous .936 save percentage.