Andersen having 'ton of fun' during playoff run with Hurricanes

MONTREAL -- Frederik Andersen is having a blast in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Carolina Hurricanes goalie is 10-1 with a 1.56 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and two shutouts in 11 postseason games.

The Hurricanes lead the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final with a chance to take another step closer to the Stanley Cup Final in Game 4 at Bell Centre on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX).

It's been an incredible ride for the 36-year-old, now in his 11th NHL season and looking to reach the Cup Final for the first time.

He is having fun, he said so, but looks can be deceiving.

"I just saw him walking out of here, he didn't look like too excited," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour joked Tuesday. "That might be you guys (the media). No, he's very even keeled. And for that position, that's really important.

"Certainly the way he plays is to be that way, and like you said, you wouldn't know if he had a good game or bad game. You really wouldn't know with him, and I think that's good for our team too."

That calm demeanor especially is key for any goalie on a Hurricanes team that is very stingy when it comes to allowing opponents' shots on goal. In their 3-2 overtime win in Game 3 on Monday, the Hurricanes allowed the Canadiens 13 shots on goal, including just one in the third period and one in overtime.

That followed up 3-2 overtime win in Game 2, where Andersen faced just 12 shots on goal.

"This is a tough game to play, believe it or not," Brind'Amour said about Game 3. "When you’re not getting a lot of action, and when you do it's Grade-A variety, but that's the right guy for us in that situation, because just a calm -- whether we’re giving up 30 shots a night or whatever it was tonight -- he's going to be the same."

And though it's somewhat of a luxury to not get peppered with pucks throughout an entire game, it comes with the challenge of staying sharp when a shot does eventually find its way to the net.

"I think it's something you have to learn," Andersen said. "I think as you get older you get more experienced with it. Playing behind this team, we have the puck a lot, we pressure hard, so yeah, these kind of games kind of happen quite often as you've probably seen. Again, let's just take that experience and battle with yourself to be focused on what's next."

So what does he do to stay sharp when he's not seeing that much activity?

"I mean, you can be active, obviously, play in the pocket sometimes, you can help your (defense) with that, and again, mentally just kind of reset every play and every whistle," he said. "That's some of the cues that I've used, just to stay focused."

Focus doesn't seem to be an issue for Andersen, whether it be the next shot or the next game.

"Really, just short-sighted, just be focused on today, and really, what can you get out of today that's going to help us for tomorrow," Andersen said. "And I think we've been really good at doing that as a group, focusing on small details in the game."

That focus has allowed to Hurricanes to go 5-0 in overtime games this postseason and go 5-0 on the road while playing in such hostile and electric environments like Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in the second round and Bell Centre here in the conference final.

Several times on Monday the Montreal fans tried to get to him, chanting, "Andersen, Andersen, Andersen." Some may get rattled by those chants, but not the calm, cool Carolina goalie.

"You definitely hear what they're saying, they're very loud in there, so that was really fun," Andersen said. "I think the playoff atmospheres in general, up here especially too, is just cool experience. I always love coming to Montreal. It's a very respected hockey town, and the fans are awesome, just into it the whole game, and obviously you hear the chants that are going around the whole game, and so we were very lucky.

"The different series we've been in, obviously at home you have incredible, incredible atmospheres too. So that's just what makes this time of year so special."

Andersen is no stranger to this time of year.

Since he entered the NHL in 2013-14, he’s played 96 postseason games, the third most in that span behind Andrei Vasilevskiy (127) and Sergei Bobrovsky (110).

In just his second season in the NHL, he brought the Anaheim Ducks to within one win of the Stanley Cup Final, but they lost Games 6 and 7 of the 2015 Western Conference Final to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

It would be some time before he got past the first round again. The next season in Anaheim the Ducks lost to the Nashville Predators in seven games in the first round, with Andersen starting five of the games. He then was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 20, 2016, and was part of Toronto teams that were eliminated in the first round four straight years.

He signed with Carolina as a free agent and helped get them to the conference final in his first season, 2022-23, and again last season, but each time they went up against the Florida Panthers. They were swept in 2023 and lost in five games last year.

But with his 10th win of the postseason on Monday -- his first double-digit playoff win total since 2015 -- he's on the verge of finally getting a chance to play for the Cup.

According to NHL Stats, the 11 years between 10-win playoff campaigns is the longest in the NHL history, breaking the previous mark of eight held by Marc-Andre Fleury (2009-18) and Chris Osgood (1998-2008).

"I think I'm just thankful for the opportunity, really," Andersen said. "I've been through a lot that you said, but just again, just be grateful for being around and be able to play for this long. It's been really cool. We all dream about these times of year, and it's really special."

And, despite his calm look, he's having a blast.

"It's been a ton of fun," Andersen said. "So I think it makes it really fun to wake up every day and see the guys, and just be in this battle, and it's fun to experience together."