FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For 2 rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, goaltender Frederik Andersen delivered for the Carolina Hurricanes. For 2 video games in opposition to the Florida Panthers, he fell quick. If he’s going to get a 3rd shot at making a distinction, it received’t be as a starter Saturday.
Pyotr Kochetkov will begin for the Hurricanes in Sport 3 of the Japanese Convention ultimate, coach Rod Brind’Amour mentioned after Saturday’s morning skate.
“Simply change the vibe slightly bit,” Brind’Amour mentioned. “(Kochetkov is) a child that we’ve had in there all yr that’s performed nicely for us.”
Andersen left Sport 2 after permitting 4 targets on 16 photographs in two intervals. He was changed by Kochetkov, 25, who began 47 video games within the common season and put up an .898 save proportion, a 13-point dip from 2023-24.
Not one of the targets Andersen allowed in his first two video games in opposition to the Panthers had been egregiously delicate, however they’d a cumulative impact and had been poorly timed. Gustav Forsling put the Panthers up 1-0 simply 1 minute, 17 seconds in, and Sam Bennett closed the book with 49 seconds left earlier than the second intermission. In between had been a Matthew Tkachuk purpose arrange by Carter Verhaeghe’s wrap-around and a power-play redirect by Bennett.
“I don’t blame Freddie on any of the targets that went in,” Brind’Amour mentioned. “Clearly, save proportion isn’t nice, for those who have a look at that. We do want some saves, however I can’t blame him. All their targets have been nice photographs or performs by them.”
Bennett’s first would possibly’ve been probably the most evident; it got here after a pad save by Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky on Jordan Martinook that despatched Florida on the assault. The Panthers received an enormous cease by their goaltender; the Hurricanes didn’t.
After the 5-0 Panthers win, Carolina was baffled, and Brind’Amour wasn’t all in favour of blaming Andersen.
“It wouldn’t have mattered who we had in internet tonight,” he mentioned.
Possibly so — the collection up to now has certainly been a top-to-bottom catastrophe for the Hurricanes. Florida, behind a brutal forecheck, a deep nicely of goal-scoring expertise and a core that after once more appears to be elevating its play because the stakes rise, has a 2-0 lead that appears considerably bigger.
Nonetheless, Andersen’s play has regressed dramatically from the primary two rounds, when he was adequate (.937 save proportion, 14.97 targets saved above anticipated per Evolving-Hockey), to indicate up on Conn Smythe quick lists.
In opposition to the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, six of his 9 video games had been .919 or higher, and the one sub-.900 efficiency, Sport 4 in opposition to New Jersey, ended after 24:19 resulting from an upper-body harm he sustained in a net-front collision with Devils winger Timo Meier. He recovered in time to close down any shot the Capitals had in Spherical 2.
“It’s not like there’s one recipe that’s gonna resolve Freddie,” Capitals middle Dylan Strome mentioned after Sport 4, a 5-2 Carolina win that put the Hurricanes up 3-1 within the collection.
Andersen wound up dealing with simply 95 photographs however stopped 89 of them (.937 save proportion). In all 5 video games, he saved extra targets than anticipated, and in Video games 3 and 5, he was excellent.
“Credit score to Freddie Andersen,” Capitals goalie Logan Thompson mentioned after Carolina eradicated Washington in Sport 5. “I believed he was the higher goalie this collection.”
In opposition to the Panthers, although, Andersen has allowed 9 targets on 36 photographs (5 in Sport 1, 4 in Sport 2 for a .750 save proportion) and saved about 5.5 targets beneath anticipated. An identical efficiency on Saturday evening would functionally finish Carolina’s season.
And it’s, in fact, not the primary time the Canes have confronted this quandary with Andersen.
In 2024, the New York Rangers eradicated Carolina in a six-game second-round collection. Andersen began the primary two video games, each Hurricanes losses, and allowed eight targets on 62 photographs (.871 save proportion). Kochetkov changed him for Sport 3 and performed nicely, making 22 saves in a 3-2 extra time loss. Andersen returned for Sport 4 and strung collectively two wins earlier than permitting 4 targets on 23 photographs in New York’s 5-3 Sport 6 win.
Within the 2023 Japanese Convention ultimate, additionally in opposition to the Panthers, Andersen was excellent in Sport 1, stopping 57 of 60 photographs in a 3-2 Panthers win in quadruple extra time. Brind’Amour gave him a break in Sport 2, beginning Antti Raanta in a 2-1 OT loss. Andersen returned for Sport 3 (a 1-0 Panthers win during which he confronted 17 photographs) and Sport 4 (a 4-3 Panthers win during which he stopped 20 of 24).
On Saturday, Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin and middle Jordan Staal had been requested what offers them confidence in Andersen.
“As a defenseman, he’s is a stonewall again there and has been all yr,” Slavin mentioned. “He’s a peaceful presence, and you understand that he’s not going to go outdoors of his recreation to attempt to do something loopy. He’s simply again there, he’s calm, he’s collected and been that method for us this complete profession. And that provides us enormous confidence.”
Staal’s follow-up: “What he mentioned.”
Brind’Amour made the announcement a couple of minutes later.
Kochetkov’s profession playoff numbers aren’t nice — an .871 save proportion in 9 appearances — however he does have some high-profile high quality begins beneath his belt.
In his first profession postseason begin, in opposition to the Boston Bruins in 2023, he stopped 30 of 32 photographs in a 5-2 win. He additionally received a recreation in opposition to the Devils on April 27 in reduction of Andersen after which stopped 31 of 35 photographs in a 5-4, close-out extra time win two days later.
Harm ward
Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield didn’t skate and received’t play on Saturday, Brind’Amour mentioned. He hasn’t performed since Sport 4 of the Capitals collection, and his absence has triggered issues for a defensive lineup that was largely set in stone all through the common season. Scott Morrow has performed in Chatfield’s place the previous two video games.
Defenseman Sean Walker, who took Chatfield’s spot on the second pair with Dmitry Orlov, will likely be a game-time determination however skated Saturday. He left Sport 2 with an obvious upper-body harm stemming from a second-period hit by Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Winger Seth Jarvis, who left Sport 2 briefly within the third interval, will play, Brind’Amour mentioned, including that “a pair” different forwards are “iffy.”
Heart Jesperi Kotkaniemi is more likely to return to the lineup, Brind’Amour mentioned. He was a wholesome scratch for Sport 2 and has three assists in 11 postseason video games.
“We want extra out of him. If he’s gonna play in that (top-six position), particularly, even when it’s not scoring, he’s gotta be slightly extra impactful,” Brind’Amour mentioned. “He’s an enormous physique and he’s gotta use it slightly extra.”
Kotkaniemi, requested after the morning skate to share some specifics on why he was within the press field for Sport 2, wasn’t biting.
“It’s not time to enter particulars in the course of the playoffs,” he mentioned. “It’s all about successful. In order that’s all that issues.”
What may he do in Sport 3 that he hasn’t finished?
“Simply play higher.”
What does that seem like for him?
“One thing else than what I confirmed within the first recreation.”
By that time, Kotkaniemi and the reporters round his stall had been laughing. All within the recreation.
(Picture: Bruce Bennett / Getty Photos)
