Mike Babcock is doing his best to avoid starting another goalie controversy in Toronto.

Despite the fact goaltender Frederik Andersen has given up 19 goals in his last four starts - including one that saw him pulled after 11 minutes - and Curtis McElhinney was nearly perfect in the team's 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs bench boss will turn to his No. 1 on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues.

"It hasn't been good enough. But there are times in the year when you have little dips and you just have to make sure you work hard every day and those dips are shorter and they don't happen as often and that's the challenge for him," Babcock said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "He was in a situation last year where I think he played around 42 games last year. We want him to play a lot more, so the challenge for him is to be able to handle that.

"(McElhinney) did a really good job for us last game. Freddie goes tonight with an opportunity to bounce back. Our team was no good against St. Louis, we weren't competitive, so this should be a better opportunity for Freddie because our team will play better, and now he has to do his start."

Exactly a week ago Thursday, the Blues demolished the Maple Leafs 5-1 in St. Louis' first game since Ken Hitchcock's firing, with Andersen giving up all five goals on 31 shots.

Andersen started the regular season by allowing 22 goals in his first five games, but followed that up with one of the most consistent stretches of quality performances from any goalie this season, allowing two or fewer goals in 18 of his next 24 games.

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