Canes Goaltending: Rest Necessary for Andersen

The Carolina Hurricanes got back to their winning ways last night in Washington against the Capitals. Frederik Andersen was in between the pipes and recorded the victory with a flawless third period.

A 3-2 victory was just what the team needed after losing to the New York Rangers after a long break.

It is hard to remember that the oft-injured goalie has only been back healthy for parts of 9 games since returning from injury on January 12th against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

That night was a victory, conceding 2 goals but Andersen has won 7 of those appearances.

Still, Andersen has had moments of concern, and more recently. On January 25th, the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent let in two goals to the Dallas Stars before leaving the game due to injury.

Although the most concerning element was his health, Andersen still had put forth a poor performance before exiting.

Things seem to blow over and the 33-year-old netminder returned to the crease four days later against a tough opponent in the Boston Bruins. The return was a relief but beating the Bruins and letting one goal past was icing on the cake.

Since that game things have not been as sharp from Andersen.

Right before the All-Star break, the Canes were able to beat the Los Angeles Kings, but Andersen gave up four goals. Most nights you won’t have a great chance of winning, giving up 4 goals.

After the break, the Rangers had their way with the former third round pick. Five goals went by Andersen and the Canes never had a shot to recover.

Although the game last night was a win, Andersen never seemed comfortable in net. He was over committing on shots and provided some juicy rebounds.

The Canes were close to disaster when the Capitals scored but had the goal disallowed on Rod Brind’Amour’s review.

The third period was shut down, but it is a tricky road with the return for Andersen. He needs more game minutes to return to mid-season form, but he may be struggling with fatigue at the same time.

This team depends on all facets of their team and goaltending is a big piece of the puzzle. The last line of defense will need to be sharp for Brind’Amour’s system to work to the fullest.

The luxury of goaltending depth should allow Antti Raanta a chance to get a string of games so that Andersen does not burn out.

A case can be made that Pyotr Kochetkov could earn a call-up to start a back-to-back.

Either way, this team can only go as far as Andersen takes them.