Hurricanes blank Senators in Stanley Cup Playoff opener

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Rod Brind'Amour bet on Frederik Andersen's veteran experience as the Carolina Hurricanes opened the NHL playoffs as the Eastern Conference's top seed.

Andersen rewarded his coach with a shutout performance — along with a highlight-reel save that helped the Hurricanes stay in control.

The 36-year-old Dane had 22 saves and earned his sixth playoff shutout, and third in the past two postseasons, as the Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Saturday to open the best-of-7 first-round series. He held up when clean looks were coming intermittently in a game with little open ice against a pair of hard-checking teams, then stepped up huge when the Senators were buzzing with multiple quality third-period chances in a one-goal game.

“Of course you’re looking for goalies to make saves at the right time, and that’s the right time,” Brind’Amour said. “And that’s what he did tonight. Like, I don’t even know how you explain it. That was exactly the game, right there. And he was up for the challenge tonight.”

“Right there” was the third-period stop on Drake Batherson, followed quickly by one on Brady Tkachuk with the Hurricanes protecting a 1-0 lead against Ottawa’s power play.

Initially, Andersen stopped Batherson at the top of the crease, but Batherson batted a rebound attempt near Andersen’s stretched-out left leg near the post that sent the puck airborne. Andersen reached out to stop the puck before ultimately gloving it, though an official signaled a tying score.

It was unclear whether Andersen’s glove might have been behind the goal line when he controlled the puck, leading to a replay review.

“I had a pretty good idea, you never know I think when they slow it down obviously from those angles,” Andersen said. “I had a good feeling that my glove wasn’t really across the goal line.”

Officials ultimately disallowed the score, saying the puck never completely crossed the goal line.

“I haven’t, to be honest,” Senators coach Travis Green said when asked if he had seen the replay. “Probably won’t look again, either. It didn’t count, it’s not going to count tomorrow.”

Moments later, Andersen had another big stop when Tkachuk had position at the top of the crease, only for Andersen to fall backward with the puck stopping between his legs.

It was a sequence that had Hurricanes fans roaring “Freddie! Freddie!”

“It gives us energy, it gives us a win, really,” forward Taylor Hall said of Andersen's play. “We don't want to have him tested as much as he was. Their PP started to figure us out by the end of the game. But he was there."

Andersen had started 32 playoff games for Carolina the past three years. But he had struggled early this season, going 7-10-5 with a 3.26 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage before the Olympic break.

Meanwhile, former waiver pickup Brandon Bussi had blossomed into a huge story, going 23-3-0 with a 2.16 GAA and .908 save percentage in that time. That was enough to earn Bussi a three-year extension from the team in February, along with questions of how well Andersen might play after the break.

But Andersen regrouped by going 9-4-0 with a 2.70 GAA after the break while Bussi cooled (8-3-0, 3.16 GAA, .865). That opened the door for Brind'Amour to lean on Andersen's history of solid play in net for a team that has reached the playoffs for eight straight years, this run starting against a Senators team that had surged since late January to earn a wild-card spot.

“If you look at his game at the end of the regular season, he was really trending in the right direction," Hall said. "I think he’s a guy that, at least I saw last year, when the lights are brightest, he’s going to be there standing tall.”