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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – Six games into the regular season, Frederik Andersen is a man under siege in the Maple Leafs’ crease.

While the Toronto goaltender has been the one to shoulder much of the blame for the club’s slow start, his teammates say they have to play a better 200-foot game as part of a group effort to turn things around.

“You take responsibility for [the struggles],” defenceman Connor Carrick said Thursday. “It’s our job to make [Andersen]’s life easy, and the odd time when you screw up, more times than not that guy is going to bail you out. We owe him a couple good ones for sure.”

They can start on Thursday night. After dropping their fourth straight game on Tuesday, falling 7-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 1-2-3 record on the season, the Maple Leafs face the Florida Panthers at Air Canada Centre.

The concern over Andersen’s early struggles reached a fever pitch in Tuesday’s ugly loss, where he allowed seven goals on just 24 shots, while Toronto generated 43 shots the other way. In five starts Andersen has amassed a .851 save percentage and 4.29 goals-against average, putting him at the bottom of the league in both categories among goalies with at least five starts.

Those numbers don’t reflect the faith Andersen’s teammates have in his ability.

“As players we have to take a lot of the responsibility,” said Morgan Rielly. “[Andersen]’s been playing well. There have been goals against that have been almost open-net [chances]. We’ve got to do our job to help him out. We have a lot of faith in Freddie. He’s an outstanding goalie. As a team we’ve got to do a better job of supporting him and making sure he feels comfortable back there and make sure we help him out as much as we can.”

Andersen conceded after practice on Wednesday that his problems are mostly mental, so getting back on track will in large part be a personal endeavour. Still, greater attention to detail in the defensive zone by every skater in a Toronto sweater can only help the cause.

“We’ve just got to make it hard on the other team to get to the net,” said Mitch Marner. “We’ve just got to…make sure we’re trying to block as many shots as possible and get in lanes. If there’s that extra rebound, we’re the ones clearing it. [Andersen]’s responsibility is saving the first one, we’re responsible for the second and third shots.”

Head coach Mike Babcock said he couldn’t wait for the game Thursday so he could stop talking about his club’s difficulties in their own zone. His players seem to agree. The message across the dressing room Thursday morning was clear.

“[Don’t] give them a lot of chances. Be better defensively. Play better in front of [Andersen],” Auston Matthews said of the game plan. “We’re going through a little rough patch as a team right now and everyone’s got to stay positive and have each other’s back.”

Morning skate notes:

- Matt Hunwick came in on Thursday with an ailment Babcock called "lower-body" and he will not play against the Panthers. Martin Marincin will step back into the lineup, paired with Roman Polak. Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev, who played their first game of the season together on Tuesday, will remain the top pair.

- Peter Holland looks to be a healthy scratch for the first time this season as right wing Seth Griffith sees his first action since being claimed off waivers from Boston. Griffith will step onto the fourth line with Matt Martin and Ben Smith. Griffith has skated in 34 NHL games for the Bruins, recording six goals and five assists. He's recorded five 50+ point seasons between the OHL's London Knights and the AHL's Providence Bruins.

- James Reimer returns to the Air Canada Centre for the first time since being traded to San Jose last February. Reimer spent nine seasons in the Maple Leafs' organization after they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL draft. He will back up Roberto Luongo and will likely be recognized in some way by the Maple Leafs.