Frederik Andersen has been through a lot this season. A dangerous blood clotting issue forced him out of the lineup from November 6 until his return just 3 days ago. We really should give him some leeway until he gets his feet back under him, but on the other hand, he's won both of his starts since returning. Because of that, I think it's okay to poke a little fun at him, especially considering his blunder on Sunday.
Now, as a goalie myself, I can say I've made the mistake of getting too cute while trying to play the puck. What I haven't done is make that mistake in front of thousands of fans and dozens of TV cameras. Unfortunately for the former Leafs' netminder, that's exactly what he did, cameras and all.
In the end, the goal didn't matter as the Canes were already ahead 6-1 by that point. Outside of his puck handling ability, Andersen was nothing short of stellar, even producing a save of the year candidate on a beautiful back door paddle save.
With the Hurricanes adding both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jake Guentzel to an already stacked lineup, they may just be the team to come out of the Metropolitan Division this season. Having Andersen in mid season form will definitely be an advantage for them as well, provided he doesn't fan on any more cross-ice passes that is.
