Last year at this time, goaltender Craig Anderson was playing so well that he was in the discussion for the Vezina Trophy and was considered a candidate to make USA's roster in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
How things have changed.
After sustaining a freak knee injury in the warm-ups of a game he was slated to be the backup in, "Andy" just hasn't been the same. His 3.21 goals against average is ranked 43rd in the league, and his barely average .900 save percentage is ranked 35th.
Both numbers are a far cry from the goaltender who led the NHL in saves only a season ago.
Anderson did recently lead the Avalanche on a six-game win streak but gave up 19 goals in that stretch, while the high-flying offense scored a whopping 27 times.
Backup Peter Budaj has had a bit of a bounce-back year, having already started more games than he did all of last year. However, "Boods" is far too inconsistent to rely on, and his goals against average and save percentage numbers mirror Anderson's. He's also allowed three or more goals in his 10 last starts.
It isn't quite time to hit the panic button, but it's up to Craig Anderson to start ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by James Crider
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