Overcoming personal tragedy and years of postseason scrutiny, Carolina’s veteran netminder has posted a dominant 12-1 record to carry the Hurricanes toward their first championship series in decades.
The Carolina Hurricanes are headed back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. And they’ve done it with Frederik Andersen right at the center of it.
The 36-year-old Danish netminder has been the biggest story of their playoff run. After a regular season where he split starts with Brandon Bussi, Andersen has taken over in the postseason, going 12-1 through 13 games and shutting down the Eastern Conference along the way.
The numbers stand out. A 1.41 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage, and three shutouts. He’s also been perfect on long-range shots, stopping all 47 he’s faced, and he’s 5-0 in overtime games, which has basically become a theme of this run.
But there’s more to it than that. Just 36 hours before Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens, Andersen learned of the sudden passing of his long-time agent and close friend Claude Lemieux.
Even with that hanging over everything, he still helped push Carolina through.
Andersen has dealt with injuries, health scares, and playoff criticism over the course of his career. Now, after 13 seasons in the league, he’s finally in his first Stanley Cup Final. Carolina meets the Vegas Golden Knights for the Cup, and Andersen walks into it as one of the defining stories of the playoffs.