Ex-Leafs Goalie Frederik Andersen Reacts To Facing Far Fewer Shots With Hurricanes

It's not like Frederik Andersen is bored.

Just because he's averaging a shot against every five-and-a-half minutes in the past two games doesn't mean that the Carolina Hurricanes goalie has time to take a nap or has been just standing around in the crease with nothing to do.

Andersen still finds ways to keep busy. He has tricked himself into staying sharp, even if it's by performing the most mundane tasks.

"I mean, you can be active," said Andersen, who faced 12 shots against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 and then 13 shots in Game 3. "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. That's some of the cues that I've used, just to stay focused."

The fact that Andersen has been working harder to retrieve pucks that have been dumped in behind the net ("play in the pocket") than actually making saves tells you about the workload he has received in this series.

While Montreal "peppered" Andersen with 22 shots in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, the Canadiens combined for 25 shots in Games 2 and 3.

And it's not necessarily because of his opponent. Or because of the playoffs.

After 11 games, Andersen has been averaging 20.2 shots against per 60 minutes. Only Canadiens backup goalie Jacob Fowler, who came in for relief in Game 1 and played 8:23, has faced a lower rate of rubber.

For Andersen, who averaged 24.2 shots per game in the regular season (13th-fewest among goalies, five of whom appeared in fewer than five games), it's part of the advantage — or disadvantage, depending on your view — of playing for a Hurricanes team that puts defense first.

"This is a tough game to play, believe it or not," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said after Andersen stopped 11 of 13 shots in a 3-2 overtime win in 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."

Indeed, this is a luxury that most goalies don't get. It was certainly something that Andersen had to get used to, having spent the previous four seasons in Toronto before coming to Carolina in 2016.

With the Leafs, Andersen averaged 33.2 shots per 60. During his three years with the Anaheim Ducks to start his career, he averaged 28.4 shots per 60.

In Game 3, Andersen faced one shot in the third period and another shot in overtime.

Talk about boring — and challenging.

"It's something you have to learn," Andersen said of going from a team where you're constantly under siege to one where you might go an entire period without a scoring chance. "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."

Not surprisingly, Andersen is ranked first among goalies who have appeared in at least four games with a 1.56 goals-against average. But because he doesn't see a whole ton of shots, he is only third with a .923 save percentage.

Of course, the only stat that matters to the 36-year-old veteran that he is 10-1 in the playoffs — just six more wins away from that elusive Stanley Cup.

"I'm just thankful for the opportunity," said Andersen. "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."

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