RALEIGH, N.C. — When Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour praises his goaltender — and that’s happened plenty over the last seven weeks, because his goaltender has been remarkable — one particular compliment rises above the rest.
Whether Frederik Andersen is at his best, his worst or occupying the space between, Brind’Amour says, he looks the same. It might sound like backhanded praise, but it’s not intended as such. Andersen’s positional superpower, regardless of the situation, is that strain of stability. His coach says as much, and his teammates do, too. A goaltender needs a poker face, and Andersen’s is Doyle Brunson-caliber.
So, as Andersen saved 23 of the 24 shots he faced in Carolina’s 6-1 clincher over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final, he largely hit the same notes as he did in Game 4, and Game 3, and the rest of Carolina’s 12-1 run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they’ll face the Vegas Golden Knights in a series that begins Tuesday.
Montreal, outmatched against a suffocating, battle-scarred opponent, didn’t threaten Andersen much while the outcome was still in doubt, but he was up to the task from puck drop to final buzzer. Andersen’s play was efficient, stable and — based on his 2026 postseason — standard. When they’re at their best, the Hurricanes are closer to an assembly line than a hockey team, capable of bending opponents until they break. In five games, they outshot Montreal 167-89, a disparity that was equally staggering and unsurprising.
And when Andersen is at his best, he looks like Carolina’s ideal goaltender, someone capable of going minutes, stretches and periods between prime chances, then rising to the occasion, offering quality over quantity and stopping what one of his teammates called “$10 chances.” It’s what the Hurricanes need. It’s what they expect. This spring, it’s what Andersen has given them, and on Friday, this time amid personal tragedy, he delivered yet again. He was steady. He was stoic. He was brave.
On Thursday, news broke that Claude Lemieux, an NHL legend and Andersen’s longtime agent, had died just days after lighting the Canadiens’ ceremonial torch ahead of Game 3 in Montreal. Lemieux was a key part of the Canadiens’ 1986 Cup-winning team, a four-time champion, and a person whom Andersen told the North State Journal was “like family.” The two had spoken after Lemieux found out that he’d be receiving the honor.
Andersen, speaking to TNT’s Jackie Redmond on the ice after Game 5, said going to the Stanley Cup Final was “surreal” and thanked the Hurricanes for their support after a “difficult couple of days.”
“It’s so special to be able to show up for Lemieux and make him proud, just go out and battle,” he said. “Can’t speak (highly enough) about this team.”
The emotion of the moment for Andersen was clear. For Jordan Martinook — one of the longest-tenured Hurricanes, frequently one of their media frontmen — it was even more obvious.
At his locker following the game, interspersed with questions about Carolina’s long-gestating accomplishment, the experience of clinching a conference title at home and his own personal road to the moment, Martinook was asked about Andersen. He complimented him as a goalie. He complimented him as a friend. He spoke for about 45 seconds or so, until it was clear that he couldn’t speak any more.
“I don’t ever want anybody to go through that,” Martinook said. “We know (Lemieux’s son Brendan, a former Hurricane player), too. It’s hard for a lot of people.
“But for Freddy to play the way he did and, it’s just — I love that guy, and I’m proud of him.”
Andersen’s 2025-26 season, his fifth with Carolina and 13th in the NHL, wasn’t easy. He wasn’t at his best, and a run of miserable luck in December led to a stint backing up rookie Brandon Bussi. But he found his game after the Olympic break in February, enough to start Game 1 of the postseason against the Ottawa Senators. At the time, Brind’Amour expected to play both of his goaltenders.
In the weeks since, Andersen has been on the ice for every moment of Carolina’s 13 playoff games and won 12 of them, sparkling in the first two rounds and playing well enough against Montreal to keep his save percentage at .931, behind only Pittsburgh’s Artūrs Šilovs (who appeared in just one game) and Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark (whom Andersen outplayed in Round 1).
“He was amazing. We knew, obviously, that this was going to be tough for him,” Brind’Amour said Friday. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure he was gonna be able to play. You just don’t know how that was gonna shake out. But obviously, he shook it off and battled through it. You saw the emotion after the game. That’s a tough time for him.”
Then, Brind’Amour offered the same bit of praise that we heard from Martinook. It wasn’t about Andersen’s stability, or his ability, or his even-keel temperament.
“He made us all proud,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s for sure.”
