3.7.24 Recap

RALEIGH, N.C. - Frederik Andersen stopped 24 out of 25 shots faced in his first game since November on Thursday, as the Carolina Hurricanes took a 4-1 victory from the Montreal Canadiens.

Recap: Canadiens at Hurricanes 3.7.24

Welcome Back, Freddie...

Returning to action for the first time in four days, the Canes were eager to move on from Saturday's third-period collapse against Winnipeg.

After a busy afternoon filled with player transactions, the team was led to the ice by Frederik Andersen, who was activated from injured reserve earlier in the day.

Playing in his first game since November 2, the group in front of his crease did not include Michael Bunting. Scratched just before warmups for trade-related reasons, rumors swirled involving the forward.

When the puck went down, the Canes had their chances early, but it was Montreal getting the first goal of the night.

After Carolina had some trouble with a breakout from their own end, the Canadiens cashed in.

The lead would last for seven minutes before Brady Skjei pulled the contest even. After a drop-off feed from Andrei Svechnikov, #76 worked his way to the net and dipped backhand before netting a pretty one.

Subtle Second Until Stef...

Skjei's ninth goal of the season sent the contest to the second period tied at 1-1.

Despite both sides combing for just 15 shots in the first period, it felt like both had their fair share of scoring chances. The second frame, however, was the contrast.

The clubs had an uptick in shots (24), but the premium looks were few and far between.

A sleepy stanza, it looked like the game was going to harmlessly move to the third with the same tied score.

Instead, Stefan Noesen came up with a timely tally.

With helpers from former Chicago Wolves teammates Jack Drury and Jalen Chatfield, #23 cleaned up the scraps with just 24.1 seconds remaining.

Finish The Job...

Ahead 2-1 with just 20 minutes to go, the Canes avoided a near-disaster in the first 30 seconds of the frame.

The Canadiens came ready to go for the finish and Joshua Roy beat Andersen for the second time. However, it was waved off immediately due to goaltender interference.

And that was as close as Montreal would get.

Carolina outshot their opposition 17-6 the rest of the way, completely dominating the offensive portion of things.

Skjei added a second tally inside the final five minutes and Svechnikov closed out the scoring with an empty net tally, giving Carolina a 22nd win in 34 games.

They Said It

Frederik Andersen on being back in the net...

"[I feel] very, very happy.  It was really exciting to be out there with the guys again and just feel the energy of the crowd.  Being back is pretty nice... We have great fans here, so I'm used to the chants, but it's awesome to see."

Brady Skjei praising his teammate, Andersen...

"[He was] unreal. I'm so happy for him. What he's gone through... We see him in here every day working hard and for him to come out and play the way that he did, he was definitely the star of the game."

Rod Brind'Amour giving perspective on the contest as a whole...

"I think we were a little sluggish to start.  It was more because of the five days off and we gave them a couple of days off.  You could tell that it was going to take some time for us to find our legs and get up to speed.  We were just a little off.  Not terrible, but we just weren't doing it consistently right.  I thought we played a little better as the game went on."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to practice and fly to New Jersey on Friday. They'll then return to game action Saturday afternoon at 12:30 in Newark against the Devils.