Andersen remains – Frederik Andersen stopped 23 shots and played through an emotional storm as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 in Game 5, advancing the top seed to the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas. Andersen dedicated his outing amid grief after his age
RALEIGH, N.C. — The horn sounded, the kind you only hear when a series turns. Carolina’s Eastern Conference Final breakthrough finally arrived, and the Hurricanes immediately crossed the ice to Frederik Andersen at the victorious crease.
Jordan Martinook wrapped a hearty hug around the veteran forward, tapping Andersen on the helmet the entire time. Defenceman Jalen Chatfield followed. Then coach Rod Brind’Amour came in for a long embrace and shared words with Andersen. who paused afterward. bent forward to collect himself. and went through the traditional handshake line.
The moment wasn’t only about the scoreline. It was about what Andersen had been carrying for 36 hours.
Andersen was steady again as the Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on Friday night in Game 5, sending the Eastern Conference’s top seed on to the Stanley Cup Final to face Vegas.
“It’s been a difficult couple days, but the way we showed up today and the last couple days for the team for each other, it’s been incredible,” Andersen said in a postgame interview with TNT. “I can’t talk enough good things about this team and the way they’ve supported me. It’s been awesome.”
For Andersen, the road to this Final has carried extra weight. He had a shaky start to the year as waiver-wire wonder Brandon Bussi seemed ready to run away with the starting job. He then went through a rejuvenating stretch of playing for Denmark in the Milan Cortina Olympics. From there. he played well down the stretch of the regular season and. in the post-season. became a levelled-up version of himself.
Now the 36-year-old veteran is headed to the Cup Final for the first time in his career.
The performance came on the heels of momentum the Hurricanes had built with Andersen in control. He was coming off his third shutout of the post-season. a 4-0 road win on Wednesday as Carolina tightened its grip on the series. That turnaround had arrived only two days after Claude Lemieux had been the Canadiens’ torch bearer before Carolina’s 3-2 overtime win in Game 3.
On Thursday, the news broke of Lemieux’s death. Lemieux, Andersen’s agent and a former NHL playing great, took his own life. With Andersen set to start and Carolina leading 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, nobody could say how it would land.
“To be honest, wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to play,” Brind’Amour said. “You just don’t know how that was going to shake out. Obviously, he shook it off and battled through it. You saw the emotion after the game. Yeah, that’s a tough time for him. But he made us all proud, that’s for sure.”.
Andersen did not need a dramatic pregame script to show where his focus had been. He even acknowledged Lemieux’s presence in Montreal’s own ritual, telling North State Journal afterward: “He’s like family.”
The Hurricanes’ ability to keep chances limited and puck battles won paid off again. Andersen finished with 23 saves, and across the playoffs he has repeatedly been the difference-maker in the timely stops Carolina needed against a skilled but desperate Canadiens team.
For long stretches. the Hurricanes were suffocating—pressuring Montreal in its own end. winning puck battles. and keeping the pressure from swinging the other way toward Andersen. Andersen carried the shutout well into the third period before giving up a goal to Cole Caufield on the power play. though Carolina was already up 5-0.
Even with the series heading toward its final destination, Andersen’s numbers stayed sharp. He continues to lead the post-season in goals-against average (1.41) and ranks among the leaders in save percentage (.931).
Captain Jordan Staal tied it all back to the shared feeling inside the building.
“I know we were playing for him as best we could,” Staal said. “And it’s a tough couple of days here for him. We’re just family here, and we all felt that hurt. We tried to share as best we could and playing well in front of him as best we could do tonight.
“I thought he played unbelievable.”
By the time Carolina had secured the 6-1 win in Game 5, the embrace at center ice made the night’s message unmistakable: the Stanley Cup Final destination was earned on the ice, but it was held together by something far more personal.
Frederik Andersen Carolina Hurricanes Montreal Canadiens Game 5 Eastern Conference Final Stanley Cup Final Vegas Golden Knights Jordan Martinook Jalen Chatfield Rod Brind'Amour Jordan Staal Cole Caufield Claude Lemieux
6-1 is wild, Hurricanes always pull it together at the end i guess.
I didn’t even know it was Game 5 until I saw 6-1. Also the article says Andersen stayed steady but then it’s like grief?? I’m confused like what happened exactly.
They’re saying Andersen was grieving from his age RALEIGH N.C.?? lol I thought that was like a weird typo. Either way 23 shots stopped is good, but Montreal shoulda done more, they looked asleep.
The hug line stuff with Rod Brind’Amour and all that is sweet but I keep thinking about that waiver-wire part. Like wasn’t the goalie supposed to be Brandon Bussi? So how come Andersen’s the one still “steady” now? Hurricanes going to get smoked by Vegas in the final honestly.