Despite securing a commanding 3-1 lead in their Round One series against the New Jersey Devils, the Carolina Hurricanes could have a different look between the pipes for their remaining games. After colliding with Devils’ forward Timo Meier in front of the net only 24 minutes into the game, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman passed along a note from Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicating the team would evaluate netminder Frederik Andersen for an injury when the team returns to Raleigh.
It’s difficult to speculate on the specificity of the injury. Still, video footage appeared to show Meier making contact with Andersen’s head, and Andersen’s right leg becoming contorted once he falls backwards into the net. There was no penalty called on the play, and Brind’Amour expressed his frustration clearly, telling Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal, “If it goes in, it’s 100% goalie interference, right?”
In the postgame press scramble, Meier claims there was no ill intent on the play, telling team reporter Amanda Stein, “I’m trying to get behind Svechnikov and get open for the passing lane. And Svechnikov pushed me in, obviously no intent there, and hope he’s not injured too bad. But nothing on my side that I could have done differently.”
Despite any possible disciplinary actions against Meier, the Hurricanes face familiar challenges with their goaltending. Andersen failed to appear in more than 40 games for the fourth time in five years during the 2024-25 campaign, largely due to a knee injury that kept him on the injured reserve for three months.
Still, he provided quality goaltending when healthy, managing a 13-8-1 record in 22 games with a .899 SV% and 2.50 GAA. It’s not quite the efficiency Carolina has been used to from Andersen over the last several years, but it’s more than enough considering the team playing in front of him.
Due to Andersen’s various injuries over the last several years, the Hurricanes have allowed netminder Pyotr Kochetkov to receive many of the starts. Kochetkov had an up-and-down year during the regular season, finishing with a 27-16-3 record in 47 games, a .897 SV%, and 2.60 GAA. He filled in nicely for Andersen today, posting a .933 SV% in approximately 36 minutes of gameplay.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Hurricanes manage if Andersen should miss any time. They’ve averaged 3.5 GF/G through four games against the Devils, indicating they may not be able to win on their offense alone. Kochetkov hasn’t proven a valuable goaltender in the past come postseason play, but that will have to change this spring if Carolina has any hopes of continuing without Andersen.