At today's practice, Frederik Andersen had a net largely to himself, catching some attention.
Could it mean something, or could it be nothing at all? Was it an effort to get the 33-year-old Dane a bulk of the workload, or was it to preserve Antti Raanta for a sixth consecutive start tomorrow?
Goaltending was a major storyline and question mark for Carolina prior to Game 1, but a pair of wins to start the series for Raanta, combined with an illness and upper-body injury to Andersen, removed all doubt that it was the Finn's crease to lose. Now, "Freddie" has not played yet in these playoffs, but returned to back up Antti Raanta in Game 5.
Raanta has been fine health-wise to this point, starting all five games of the series for Carolina, but how many consecutive starts are the coaching staff willing to extend the leash?
"There's a chance," Brind'Amour answered when asked if there's a possibility of seeing Andersen in between the pipes Friday at UBS Arena. Referencing how there was no chance earlier in the series due to his ailments, the head coach said "he's definitely right there" of Andersen's availability.
Should the group stick with Raanta, tomorrow would be the sixth start in a row for the veteran Finn, a stretch he did not make in the regular season. The last time he made six starts in 12 days was during last year's series against the Rangers, which ultimately concluded with a knee injury suffered in Game 7.
On the other hand, Andersen has yet to play in any of the Canes' 19 playoff games since joining the club, missing all of last year's postseason due to a knee injury suffered in April.
The group is not expected to hold a morning skate on Friday, so it looks like the answer to whose net it will be will remain a mystery until at least Friday afternoon.
