It may not have been the heaviest workload for Frederik Andersen, but the Carolina Hurricanes netminder drew high praise from head coach Rod Brind'Amour for his role in Saturday's 4-0 shutout victory over the Washington Capitals.
Andersen finished the night with a modest 21 saves. However, Brind'Amour said his sharp performance during an otherwise sluggish first period for the Canes proved critical.
"That was the key to our win tonight," the coach said postgame. "That first period, where clearly, they were on their game and we were a little on our heels. That's what (good) goaltending does. He kept us in the game."
The Capitals outshot the Hurricanes 9-6 and won the high-danger scoring chance battle 8-2 during a scoreless first period, per Natural Stat Trick. But Carolina controlled the contest the rest of the way, outshooting Washington 22-12 and collecting 11 high-danger scoring chances in the final 40 minutes while holding its opponent to just five.
"I thought we got to (our game) a little bit in the second half of the game, but it could have been a lot different if we were chasing," Brind'Amour said. "That might have been one of the better games he's played for us with the magnitude of the game, what it means and how he impacted it with how he played."
Forwards Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic, who both scored, also lauded Andersen's performance.
"Hats off to Freddie," Robinson said. "He kept us at 0-0 when we didn't necessarily have our stuff."
"He saved my ass a couple times," Roslovic added.
Andersen has been lights out to begin the postseason. The 35-year-old veteran is now 5-2 with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage after recording his first playoff shutout as a member of the Hurricanes.
Carolina leads the second-round series 2-1.
