The Carolina Hurricanes’ playoff hopes just hit a major speed bump, even as they lead their series 3-1 against the New Jersey Devils. Their starting goalie Frederik Andersen left Sunday’s game after a scary collision with Devils forward Timo Meier.
The incident happened just 24 minutes into the game when Meier crashed into Andersen near the net. Video replay showed Meier making contact with Andersen’s head, while the goalie’s right leg twisted awkwardly as he fell back.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour wasn’t happy about the no-call on the play.
“If it goes in, it’s 100% goalie interference, right?” Brind’Amour told reporters after the game.
Meier defended himself, saying it wasn’t intentional. “I’m trying to get behind Svechnikov and get open for the passing lane,” he explained. “Svechnikov pushed me in… nothing on my side that I could have done differently.”
This couldn’t come at a worse time for Carolina. Andersen’s been pretty fragile lately – he’s missed big chunks of four of the last five seasons with various injuries. This year, a knee problem kept him out for three whole months.
When he’s been healthy, though, he’s been solid. Andersen put up decent numbers this season: 13 wins in 22 games with a 2.50 goals-against average. Not his best stats, but good enough behind Carolina’s strong defense.
Backup goalie Pyotr Kochetkov stepped in after Andersen went down and looked sharp, stopping 93% of the shots he faced in 36 minutes of play. But here’s the catch – Kochetkov’s been up and down all year, with a so-so .897 save percentage in 47 regular-season games.
The big question now: Can the Hurricanes keep winning if Andersen’s out? They’ve been scoring plenty against New Jersey – about 3.5 goals per game – but playoff hockey usually comes down to goaltending.
The team’s heading back to Raleigh to check out how bad Andersen’s injury is. Their playoff future might depend on what the doctors find.
