Andersen 'Unbelievable' To Start Postseason

RALEIGH, N.C. - Make your list of what impressed you most in the Carolina Hurricanes' first-round series victory over the Ottawa Senators. Goaltender Frederik Andersen should be one of the first things you put down.

Allowing just five goals in 273:22 of work, the veteran backstop was a rock for his team en route to a four-game sweep of the Ottawa Senators.

From his perfect performance in Game 1, through ending the series with a +7.6 goals saved above expected (MoneyPuck), he kept his team on the right side of razor-thin margins, with a few game-altering saves along the way.

"(He was) unbelievable. It could have been a different series if he wasn't playing the way he was," Sean Walker said in reflection. "He stood on his head every night and made incredible saves when we needed them. He was the real difference in the series."

Andersen's biggest moment may have come in the series opener, when he kept out what was initially ruled a third-period, game-tying goal for Ottawa. Referee Brandon Blandina confidently motioned that a net-side Brady Tkachuk had struck on the power play, something that would have swung momentum in the Senators' favor with 16 minutes left in regulation, and potentially changed the outcome of the inaugural bout.

Instead, a review determined that the veteran's glove had gotten over just in time, keeping the rubber out and Carolina ahead.

The first goalie in franchise history to record a postseason-opening shutout, the performance earned Andersen a chance to play back-to-back, a rarity during the team's mostly consistent goaltending rotation through 82 games.

Perhaps the takeaway from Game 2 was "Zilla" showing an ability to bounce back when the waters got choppy. Squandering a multi-goal lead, Ottawa's second strike, which came off the tape of Dylan Cozens, was one that Carolina's last line of defense would've liked to have back.

Addressed as "a stinker" post-game, it was a bad-angle shot that snuck through the Dane's five-hole. Not only did it tie the game, but the immediate body language from the backstop was cause for concern.

As time would reveal, though, the stunning mishap turned out to be a fleeting lapse from Andersen, as he quickly moved past the error and got back to the form that made him successful. Turning in an eight-save third period and then a clean 33:53 of high-intensity, sudden-death overtime, which also included another denial of Tkachuk, it was a well-earned second victory of the series.

“It’s ‘this moment’, right? Every moment matters in these situations," Andersen remarked when asked about how he flipped the page forward and allowed Jordan Martinook to find the eventual game-winner. "You just prepare like you would any other shot. Every time you make a save, you get to give the boys a new chance to score.”

After playing nearly 100 minutes in Game 2 and then touting a two-game series lead, it would have been understandable for the 36-year-old to get a break as the best-of-seven battle shifted to Ottawa. Instead, Rod Brind'Amour called it "an easy decision" to go back to him for a third consecutive start — something he hadn't been tasked with all season.

Aided by a rare two-day gap between games, Andersen looked every bit as fresh as the staff had hoped. Beaten only once, following a turnover and defensive breakdown in front of him, it was a solid, 21-save win to give his team a commanding grip on the series.

Oh, it also featured getting the best of Tkachuk in a pivotal moment, too.

"Solid. That's what you need out of your goaltending," Brind'Amour called the Game 3 performance. "Obviously, he made a couple of really big saves. He's just a calming influence back there right now."

Calming, indeed, Andersen was unfazed as the temperature of the series really started to escalate.

“He’s been unbelievable. I don’t know if there’s a goalie in the world playing as good as he is right now," Jackson Blake chimed in. "We’re up 3-0, but that could be a different story if Freddie’s not back there playing the way he is. He’s made some big saves and given us a lot of momentum and hope to go out there to play for him. He’s been great.”

With the Senators on the brink of elimination, and only about 40 hours between the conclusion of Thursday's Game 3 and Saturday's series-concluding afternoon start, it was another opportunity to give Andersen what would have been a well-deserved day off. Once more, he got the net.

As Brind'Amour once again explained that the ball was in the player's court, the fifth-year Hurricane decided he was good to go, and then backed it up with another sterling performance.

Yet another game where Ottawa was held off the board at five-on-five, Andersen put the nail in the coffin of the Senators' season.

His teammates had nothing but praise to offer, sharing the notion that they felt he was being rewarded for what had been, at times, a turbulent campaign.

"(He's) been amazing. We all know how good Fred could be all year. Maybe he didn't have the season that he was hoping for, but the way he's been playing in the playoffs so far has been awesome for us," Walker continued. "It's so stabilizing. We know we can play our aggressive game. If we give up a chance or something, he's back there making the big saves for us. He's been amazing, and it's really helping us a lot."

With Andersen playing his game and, in turn, allowing the Canes to play theirs, it's a dangerous combination at the right time. Now with 23 career playoff wins as a Hurricane, tied with Cam Ward for the most as a Hurricane, and 50 in his career, third-most among all active goalies, he's proven that when the pressure rises, so does No. 31.

"If you look at his games at the end of the regular season, he was really trending in the right direction," Taylor Hall added. "I think he has another level that he gets to in the playoffs, of focus and determination. He's a rock back there... I think he's a guy that, at least I saw last year, when the lights are brightest, he's going to be there standing tall."