By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen has been playing so well in net for the Carolina Hurricanes that coach Rod Brind’Amour is staying with his hands-off approach when it comes to goaltenders.
Things have been trickier for the Edmonton Oilers and Stuart Skinner.
Andersen is coming off his first postseason shutout with Carolina in Game 3 of the second-round series with the Washington Capitals. Skinner, meanwhile, was pulled after a rough start to the playoffs and then returned to allow four goals — including the winner on an own goal by Leon Draisaitl with less than a second left — in a Game 3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Their series resume Monday, with the Hurricanes and Oilers each holding 2-1 leads.
The 35-year-old Andersen has been strong since taking over the lead role in the playoffs, going 5-2 while posting a 1.32 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage — with the latter two numbers standing as the best among goaltenders playing multiple games in this postseason.
Saturday night’s 4-0 win came with Andersen having to stand up to early quality chances for the Capitals, notably a 1-on-1 chance for Tom Wilson just 30 seconds in and a clean look from the slot for Taylor Raddysh just 2 minutes later. It also included stopping three first-period shots from Alex Ovechkin, who passed Wayne Gretzky this year for the NHL’s all-time goals record.
“I don’t get to choose who shoots,” Andersen said. “I’ve just got to try to see what comes my way and do my best to stop it.”
Andersen has allowed more than one goal in just two of his seven appearances, though one ended early on a hit from New Jersey’s Timo Meier in the crease knocked him out for the rest of the rest of Game 4 and the Game 5 clincher.
Otherwise, Andersen is making decisions easy for Brind’Amour and goaltender coach Paul Schonfelder.
“I don’t get involved into much of that,” Brind’Amour said Sunday. “”We got guys that take care of that. Paul does a great job with the goalies, he kind of tells me how that’s going. … I just ask (Andersen) how he’s doing and that’s about it. As long as he feels good, he’s going to be in there.”
The 26-year-old Skinner, by comparison, is 0-3 and ranks last among postseason goalies with more than one appearance with a 5.36 GAA and .817 save percentage. The regular-season lead goalie gave up 11 goals through the first two games of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings before the Oilers switched to Calvin Pickard.
But Pickard was strong in the Game 2 win against Vegas, but appeared uncomfortable in the third and was seen shaking out his left leg. That opened the door for Skinner, who allowed four goals on 24 shots on Saturday — though the last came after he had sprawled out to stop Reilly Smith only to see the puck get behind him and deflect off Draisaitl’s stick for the shocking score.
Coach Kris Knoblauch said Sunday that Pickard won’t play Game 4 and remains day-to-day.
“I think Stuart’s made some really big saves, especially in the third period, made a really good one, made some other ones early in the game on the penalty kill,” Knoblauch said. “I think, like Game 1 and 2 when he played early in the LA series, we just need to be better in front of him.”
Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes
When/where to watch: Game 4, Monday, 7 p.m. EDT (TNT, TruTV)
Series: Hurricanes lead 2-1.
Ovechkin had 44 regular-season goals then four more in the five-game win against Montreal in Round 1, but he’s yet to crack the score sheet in Round 2. He averaged 3.8 shots on goal against the Canadiens, but has just eight through three games against the Hurricanes (2.7 average).
Coach Spencer Carbery pointed Sunday to the challenge for Ovechkin and top-line center Dylan Strome against a defense that makes it difficult to create off entries into the offensive zone.
“They just have to continue to work,” Carbery said. “It’s not going to be perfect every night. I thought they did some good things last night. In these series, in these games, you have one game where you make a difference offensively and it could be the difference in this series.”
Vegas Golden Knights at Edmonton Oilers
When/where to watch: Game 4, Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDT (TNT, TruTV)
Series: Oilers lead 2-1.
Vegas had lost home games to start this series despite jumping to first-period leads, then found itself down 2-0 by midway through the first period of Game 3. Then forward Mark Stone went down with an upper-body injury.
The Golden Knights recovered to earn their first win, but Stone’s status is uncertain for Game 4. Coach Bruce Cassidy said after the win that Stone was day to day, then offered no change to reporters Sunday.
Stone has four goals and four assists in nine playoff games.