Nothing was going well for Rob Brind’Amour’s troupe on Saturday night at the Ball Arena in Denver. In addition to seeing Frederik Andersen leave the game, his team lost by the score of 7 to 4 against the Avalanche.
Two weeks from the start of the playoffs, Carolina must cross its fingers that the injury is not too serious. Judging by the footage you can see in the video header, Andersen appears to have had trouble with his left knee following back-to-back quick moves. The most annoying thing is that this injury occurs late in the game, when the game was already beyond the reach of the Hurricanes.
Andersen was the goaltender with the best goals-against average heading into Saturday’s games. As he allowed 7 goals, he now has a respectable 2.17 average, while Igor Sheshterkin sits at the top at 2.05. The Rangers goaltender picked up a shutout in the afternoon against the Red Wings.
The insult to injury in all of this is that the Hurricanes also lost the services of their captain during the game. Jordan Staal was checked in hard-hitting fashion by Cale Makar and did not return to the game. Staal had scored 2 goals on deflections earlier in the game.
In victory, 7 Avalanche players get at least 2 points. Cale Makar is unexpectedly cleared of the score sheet.
You can see highlights from 9 other NHL games played on Saturday below.