After a dominant 13-2 postseason run, Carolina’s veteran netminder opens up about the knee injury that forced him to watch Brandon Bussi clinch the franchise’s historic title.
While Brandon Bussi was the man who got the Carolina Hurricanes over the finish line, helping them secure their first Stanley Cup in 20 years, Canes fans shouldn't forget how much work Frederik Andersen put in along the way.
The Danish goalie did most of the heavy lifting for Carolina, starting in 16 of the Canes' 19 postseason games and winning 13 of those games.
He had a 13-2 postseason record, along with a 0.910 save percentage, 1.89 goals against average and a franchise record three shutouts.
Eventually though, Andersen's run mysteriously came to an end as he wound up not even dressing for Games 4, 5 and 6 after getting pulled in Game 3.
Bussi would go on to secure the Cup for the Hurricanes though with his stellar play, including a series clinching shutout in Game 6.
After securing the Cup, Andersen did reveal though that he had ended up on the sidelines due to injury.
"I tweaked my knee [in Game 2]," Andersen said. "I was doing what I could to kind of get it to a point. Dealt with some stuff throughout the playoffs specifically, but it is what it is. I'm just so happy that Bus was amazing like he was."
"He gutted it out," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "He's had some injuries, wasn't 100%, which is why he never really came back. He could have maybe played, but you can't kind of play at this time of year."
The 36-year-old netminder has dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout his career, including having had multiple surgeries on his knees, and so props to him for having as good of a run as he did this postseason.
"I hated [having to watch]," Andersen said. "I was nervously shaking the whole time in the back and trying to watch. Not something I liked. But I'm just so happy with the way we were resilient and battled for each other throughout. We left it all out there."
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