RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Things didn't go smoothly for Frederik Andersen early in the regular season. He was hunting his game. And as he tried to work through it, a one-time waiver pickup was taking over the Carolina Hurricanes' crease with sudden stardom.
That feels long ago, with Andersen playing his best hockey in the Hurricanes' return to the Eastern Conference final of the NHL playoffs.
The 36-year-old Andersen is leading all postseason goaltenders
in goals-against average (1.12) and save percentage (.950), allowing 10 goals for a playoff-tested team that is 8-0 through two rounds of play.
It took a climb to get here, from feeling better about his play as 2026 arrived to getting a rejuvenating spark from playing for his native Denmark in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
“I think it was gradual the whole way," Andersen said. "I thought I was playing really good hockey down the end of the regular season and just continued to build. That's the focus still, one practice now at a time until we know who we're playing and when — and just staying ready.”
The Hurricanes are the first team to sweep the first two rounds since the NHL went to best-of-seven series in all four rounds in 1987. That has them in the East final for the third time in four years and fourth time in the current eight-year playoff run under coach Rod Brind’Amour, along with giving Andersen another lengthy break to recharge before facing Montreal or Buffalo.
Brind’Amour tends to lean toward experience with lineup calls. He also trusts goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder with decisions like whether Andersen or 31-game winner Brandon Bussi should start the postseason run.
“He knows them better than I do. He knows where they’re at, where their game’s at, where their game is capable of going,” Brind’Amour said. “It was an easy decision: he was like, ‘No, Freddie’s the guy.’"
Andersen rewarded that faith with a Game 1 shutout of Ottawa, then had another against Philadelphia to open that series, too.
Schonfelder can point to minor technical details where Andersen is sharper, such as “playing on his feet” to get into shooting zones and better using his 6-foot-4, 229-pound size. There's also the mentality to “just play free" and reduce the job to its simplest action: watching the puck and reacting.
“I remind Freddie: You just need to play to your capabilities, that's good enough,” Schonfelder said. “Don't think you have to reach a level you've maybe never reached before or you're going to be perfect. Don't chase perfect. Just be you. Be you to the best of your ability, and that's good enough to win."
The Hurricanes rely on an aggressive forecheck and are among the best at limiting chances going the other way. But Andersen has repeatedly made stops against high-danger chances. He's been the backbone of a penalty kill that is 38 of 40 (95%) in the playoffs.
He's also shown the requisite ability to regroup. The Flyers scored twice in a span of 39 seconds in the opening five minutes of Game 2 to give Carolina its first postseason deficit.
They didn't find the net again. Andersen finished with 34 saves in nearly 79 minutes of an overtime win along with an extra highlight: leveling defenseman Travis Sanheim at the crease late in regulation.
Andersen started 32 postseason games for Carolina the previous three seasons, then started 4-1 this year. That included an Oct. 23 win at Presidents’ Trophy winner Colorado, with Andersen making 44 stops and denying three shootout tries.
But Andersen won just one of his next 12 starts over two months, posting a 1-9-2 mark with a 3.73 GAA and .850 save percentage.
There wasn't one simple explanation. He didn't make those timely stops, mixed with pockets of bad “puck luck.” Then there was Bussi's rise, starting 10 games to Andersen's three from late November to New Year's Day and earning a three-year contract during the Olympic break.
“You feel like it's the hardest thing to do in the world when you're trying to get a win and trying to play a good game when it's not going your way," Andersen said. “Goaltending is a hard sport where you can't stop the puck harder, you can't force it. You've just got to let it come and trust what you're doing is going to lead you to success in the long run.”
Still, Andersen started to feel better about his game after Christmas. Then came three Olympic starts for Denmark, posting a 2.75 GAA and .913 save percentage.
“A little change of scenery never hurts sometimes when you're finding a little new love for the game," Andersen said.
Andersen went 9-4-0 after the Olympic break, while Schonfelder saw consistency building in his game as April arrived. Andersen closed the schedule with a 1.50 GAA and .942 save percentage in his last two starts.
“He's a pro and I think we all knew he'd come back around,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said.
And now, that's carried into the conference finals.
“We’ve talked about it, and I say now: Just stay in your bubble,” Schonfelder said, adding: "Don’t let anything affect your bubble.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
