Without necessarily activating the “panic” button, the Carolina Hurricanes needed their number one goaltender. Frederik Andersen put in a solid performance Thursday night on his return to the game after more than two months of absence.
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The Canes ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Let’s just say this one seemed to come out of nowhere after the team had won all 11 of their previous duels.
Piotr Kochetkov, who has been overworked lately, still has plenty of time to study and is enjoying a well-deserved rest. Antti Raanta missed training due to injury. So the timing was perfect for Andersen to don his leggings for the first time since November 7th.
“He’s consistent. It’s his way of playing. We were all a little nervous to see how he was going to play because it had been ages. Good thing he landed on his feet. We needed it,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the Raleigh News & Observer after the game.
“He was good, he made some great saves. He kept us on the right track,” he added.
Andersen faced 21 of the Jackets’ 23 shots. The Dane appears to have recovered well and truly from his lower body injury.
Still Pacioretty
If the Hurricanes could be relieved by the lucky return of their goalkeeper, they held their breath in the first period when Max Pacioretty had to leave the encounter.
The former Montreal Canadiens captain was hit in the lower body. According to the team, this has nothing to do with his Achilles tendon injury, which forced him to miss the first 38 games of the season.
Pacioretty has done well in his first few games with Carolina, hitting the target three times in as many games. In his fourth stint in Columbus, he only spent 3:02 on the ice.
Injuries continue to pile up for the 34-year-old, who was limited to 39 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. However, he had accumulated 37 points.