Frederik Andersen recorded his first postseason shutout in five years as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the visiting Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., to take Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.
Andersen stopped 21 shots for the Hurricanes, who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Jack Roslovic scored a goal and assisted on another while Andrei Svechnikov got his sixth goal of the playoffs. Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake also scored.
Logan Thompson made 24 saves for the Capitals, who could not take advantage of several early scoring opportunities.
Much like the first two games in Washington, Game 3 was a tightly contested affair with few shot attempts. On Saturday, the Capitals enjoyed an early edge in higher-quality chances. Both teams owned 29 shot attempts midway through the second period, but the Capitals held a 10-3 edge in high-danger scoring chances.
“We’ve had some first periods like that,” Roslovic said. “Not recently, but throughout the year. I think it’s just a realization of the way we play, and we got to clean it up a little bit. We always seem to get back to it and, if it weren’t for Freddie, it could have been different.”
Andersen was definitely up to the task as he notched his fourth shutout in postseason play. He stopped Alex Ovechkin right in front of the crease with 5:52 left in the first period. Over the next 22 seconds, Andersen kept two Ovechkin tip-ins from getting past him. That included one on a faceoff where the Capitals captain skated through the circle and was by himself in the slot.
Carolina, however, did score off a faceoff.
While Washington’s Nic Dowd won the draw in Carolina’s attack zone, Svechnikov managed to beat John Carlson to the puck and his quick snapshot from the right circle made it 1-0 at 12:34 of the second period.
“It sucks, but it’s the playoffs,” Dowd said. “It’s going to happen. Things like that are going to happen. I know I’m not going to think about it after I answer these questions with you guys. It happens. Every single game of every single series has something that – like the game last night, the Florida game – a couple bounces, weird ones, they go in. It’s the playoffs. You got to stick with it, a long series. You got to be consistent. Just keep going, keep pushing.”
Roslovic, inserted into the lineup due to Mark Jankowski’s Game 1 injury, scored on a power play with 1:03 to go before the second intermission. Roslovic then assisted on Robinson’s goal that came with 16:46 left in the game.
Blake finished the scoring with 3:16 remaining.
The second-period goals deflated the Capitals as they had only six shots on goal in the final period. They also mustered just three high-danger chances after the midway point of the second period.
Andersen’s last postseason shutout came as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2020 qualifying round against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
–Field Level Media
