For those looking for a good goaltending matchup between two great goalies – the New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Frederik Anderson, it’s not likely to happen during the second round of the playoffs that starts on Wednesday in Carolina. Andersen, who was with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season but was injured and didn’t play for the Maple Leafs during the 2020-21 postseason, is also not likely to play at all during the second round this postseason. He might not be in the net at all this postseason.
Andersen Hasn’t Played Since Being Injured on April 16
It’s been exactly a month yesterday since Andersen has seen game action. He was injured during a game on April 16 against the Colorado Avalanche and had to be helped off the ice with five minutes to go in that game. Antti Raanta finished up that game and has been the Hurricanes goalie of record since.
Raanta helped lead the Hurricanes to a seven-game, round-one series win against the Boston Bruins. His goals-against-average in that series was 2.37 and he had a save percentage of .927. He’ll be the main goalie for Carolina during this upcoming series.
Andersen’s Not Even Been Practicing
Although at the time of his injury, Andersen’s first prognosis was day-to-day, it’s now more like month-to-month. That means that, if the Hurricanes are going to advance to the next round, they’ll likely do it on the strength of a goalie who had not carried them during the regular season.
Although Andersen is unlikely to play against the Rangers during the Eastern Conference second round, there’s some hope it might not mean he’ll be out for the entire postseason. In fact, Hurricanes’ coach Rod Brind’Amour said he hoped Andersen could play at some point in the postseason.
When asked if Andersen might be back, Brind’Amour noted that “I would hope so, especially if we can move on.” However, Brind’Amour hinted that he might be tired of the question because he also noted: “Until he (Andersen) gets out there with us, you might as well stop asking me.”
Raanta’s The Goalie of Record for the Next Round
The Hurricanes are the home team and Game 1 against the Rangers starts on Wednesday. Raanta played well enough during the first-round series against the Bruins. However, in the back of Hurricanes fans minds, there must be some dread. Although Raanta made 27 saves in a 3-2 win in Game 7 on Saturday, he missed Game 3 because of an upper-body injury.
Hurricanes fans who are wondering where David Ayres might be, we’re not sure. For those who don’t recall, on February 22, 2020, when both Hurricanes’ goaltenders (James Reimer and Petr Mrázek) went down with injuries in a game against the Maple Leafs, Ayres came into the game in the second period as the emergency backup goalie. Although he allowed two goals on 10 shots, he was the winning goalie in that game.
We’re sure that the Hurricanes have other contingencies.
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