Frederik Andersen again the ‘rock’ as Canes notch record-setting win over the Bruins
The Carolina Hurricanes keep riding the wave.
And the shoulders of the goalie they call “Freddie.”
The Canes, with Frederik Andersen again standing tall in net and making 33 saves, turned back the Bruins 3-0 at PNC Arena to push their record to 6-0, the best start in franchise history.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had tagged it ”the big game,” given that it was the Bruins, who owned the season series before the pandemic and dispatched the Canes from the 2019 and 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
How did the Canes respond? If Brind’Amour had a best-case scenario in mind before the game, it played out. As forward Nino Niederreiter put it, the Canes continued to ride “the wave” that started opening night.
It starts with Andersen, called “a rock, for sure” by Canes captain Jordan Staal. He won a sixth straight game, his 20th career shutout, again was unflappable in net and added an assist, the 10th of his career.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo scored in the first period at even strength and Niederreiter found the net on a second-period power play. Andrei Svechnikov’s empty-net score in the final minute of regulation gave him six goals this season and extended his point streak to six games along with Sebastian Aho, who assisted on the goal.
The Canes’ penalty killers were on their game. The Bruins twice had 5-on-3 advantages but Carolina’s hustle and aggressiveness — and Andersen’s calm play in net — kept Boston at bay as Canes fans in the crowd of 16,093 roared with each kill.
“That’s the game,” Brind’Amour said to the media. “Those were real crucial moments and we got great effort by the guys who were out there. And obviously Freddie was great.”
The Bruins (3-3-0), who tormented the Canes in the power play in their Stanley Cup playoff victories, were 0-5 on the power play Thursday.
“Our penalty kill was unreal,” DeAngelo said to the media. “They’ve been great all year. We’ve had guys win faceoffs, block shots, good sticks. They’re doing a great job.”
Andersen was named the game’s first star as he lowered his goals-against average to 1.33 and improved his save percentage to .956 for the season.
Andersen became the seventh goalie in NHL history to win each of a team’s first six games to start the season and had Canes fans loudly chanting, “Fred-die, Fred-die” after the game. Another bit of history: he’s the second to join a new team and win the first six of in a season, matching the record set by Frank McCool with Toronto in 1944-45.
“I don’t really care about that stuff,” Andersen said. “I’m just happy to be winning. That’s our goal every night and that’s what matters.”
Canes defenseman Ethan Bear put a big hit on Boston’s Brad Marchand in the neutral zone four seconds into the game. That set the tone for the night, signaling it would be a big boys’ kind of game.
It was a game where the hits came often — 42 in the opening period, 75 in all — and open ice was hard to find. The team pushed and probed, looking for openings.
DeAngelo found one. He bombed a shot from the left point that Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman could not track, picking up his first goal with the Canes and the first by a Carolina defenseman this season at 15:16 of the first.
On the second-period power play, Niederreiter attempted a cross-ice pass to Martin Necas but the puck glanced off Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort in the slot and past Swayman.
It was a busy night for Niederreiter. Playing on Staal’s line with Jesper Fast, he helped muzzle the Bruins’ dangerous top line centered by Patrice Bergeron.
Andersen was tested early when Boston’s Jake DeBrusk broke in alone in the first period. There were a few offensive flurries by the Bruins in front of the net in the second, but Andersen coolly kept his poise and position and poked away the puck, and continued his steady play in the third.
Before Thursday, the Bruins had taken points in 18 of the past 19 games against Carolina, going 13-1-5. The Canes’ last regular-season win over the Bruins a 5-3 victory at PNC Arena on Dec. 23, 2018 and not in Carolina jerseys -- it was the first retro Hartford Whalers night at PNC Arena and Canes were donning the Whale.
Andersen became the first Canes goalie to start six consecutive games since Cam Ward was in net for 11 in a row in October 2009. With Carolina facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday to complete their first back-to-back of the season, will Brind’Amour stick with Andersen again?
“Maybe. We’ll see,” Brind’Amour said with a hint of a smile.
This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 9:42 PM.
