FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Carolina Hurricanes switched starting goalies again for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, going back to Frederik Andersen for Monday night’s win-or-else game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
And it worked. Andersen made 20 saves and Carolina won 3-0, cutting Florida’s lead in the series to 3-1.
“He looked confident,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But he always does.”
Andersen started Games 1 and 2, getting pulled after the second period of Game 2. He stopped only 27 of 36 shots in those five periods, and the Hurricanes went to Pyotr Kochetkov to finish Game 2 and then play Game 3.
Kochetkov helped Carolina get into the third period of Game 3 with the score tied at 1-1 — then gave up five goals in a nine-minute span of the third, as Florida pulled away for a 6-2 win and a 3-0 lead in the East title series.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Brind’Amour said Monday before the game. “He’s had a nice couple of days off, so it makes sense to chuck him in there.”
The result: Andersen’s fifth career playoff shutout and second of this postseason.
“We wanted to leave it all there and put our best game at them,” Andersen said.
Brind’Amour didn’t blame Kochetkov for the Game 3 loss, noting that he had kept Carolina in the game for 40 minutes. But with the season at stake, Andersen’s 82 career postseason starts coming into Monday probably rated him the edge over Kochetkov — who made his fourth career postseason start Saturday.
There won’t be any mystery going into Game 5 on Wednesday. After a shutout, it’s certain Andersen will have the net once again — in another win-or-else game.
“Happy to get another shot in two days,” Andersen said.
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