Hurricanes have no doubt Andersen will bounce back in Game 2 of East Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- After the Carolina Hurricanes' 6-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday, the players were quick to come to the defense of goaltender Frederik Andersen.

The 36-year-old allowed five goals on 21 shots, including four straight goals in the first period. Cole Caufield and Alexandre Texier scored from the hash marks, while Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov scored on breakaways. The Canadiens were credited with eight high-danger shots in the game, leaving Andersen in a tough spot.

"He's a veteran guy. He's been in the League long enough to know that, yes, they scored six on us yesterday," Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers said Friday. "But three of them were breakaways, two of them were right in the slot. That's on all of us."

Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour also was quick to come to Andersen's defense.

"This game wasn't on him at all," Brind'Amour said. "Freddie is pretty calm. One of his strengths is that he's able to just move on."

Before the start of series there was plenty of talk about Carolina's 11-day layoff after a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in their best-of-7 second-round series. But Brind'Amour factored the long break into his decision to leave Andersen in the net in Game 1.

"I'm not going to blame him for breakaways," Brind'Amour said after the game. "I thought (about changing goalies) maybe for a second, just to give him a breather, but he's had a ton of rest, so it's actually the opposite. We need to get him probably up to speed (with) probably more game action."

Through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Andersen was 8-0 with a 1.12 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and two shutouts. The strong performance, along with his even demeanor, leaves his teammates confident that the team's struggles in Game 1 will not affect Andersen in Game 2 here Saturday (7 p.m. ET; HBO Max, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"It's going to be pretty easy for him," Ehlers said. "He's been unbelievable in the playoffs. He's won us games all year as well. He's the same guy (today) he was before the game yesterday."

Carolina is in the East Final for the second straight season and third time in four years. The Hurricanes lost each of the previous two conference final series to the Florida Panthers, winning only one game. Andersen started seven of the nine games, going 1-6 with a 2.67 GAA, .884 save percentage and one shutout.

To change the narrative for the team and for Andersen, the Hurricanes will need to get back to the identity that usually has come easily for them.

"I think we've been able to do that all year," defenseman Sean Walker said. "We're a group that knows how we need to play, even though we didn't do that (Thursday). Some adversity is good in the playoffs. You need that. Now we need to bounce back (Saturday), and I fully believe we're ready to do that."

Their first loss of the postseason gives the Hurricanes a chance to make adjustments and deal with a setback to start the series. Brind'Amour chose to keep the team off the ice Friday, opting for video work instead.

"We did practice; you just didn't see it," he said. "There was no point in going on the ice today. It's not what we need.

"Obviously you're going to face (adversity). You don't want to. (But) we've got to focus on getting to our game. Let's see what it looks like when we play well."

When Carolina gets back to playing well, it will give Andersen a chance to be at his best.

"He's a great goalie," Ehlers said. "He knows that. We know that. He's been there for us all year. We've got to do a better job of not giving them those easy chances because they're really good players that are going to make the plays and score on the big chances. We've got to eliminate that. Our goalies have been rock solid all year, and they're going to continue to do that."