Returning to Long Island after New York forced a Game 6 on Tuesday, the Canes brought a new storyline with them for the trip.
After Frederik Andersen had a net largely to himself at Thursday's practice and that caught the attention of some, Rod Brind'Amour then elected not to name a starting netminder on Friday afternoon when he met with the media pre-game.
While Antti Raanta had been more than adequate through the first five games of the series, the coaching staff elected to change course and go with the fresh netminder. When the team took to the ice for warmups at UBS Arena, it was #31 leading the way for the Metropolitan Division Champions.
In his first playoff start with the club, Andersen was forced to be strong early.
It turned out to be the beginning of what was a very active first 40 minutes for the Canes' netminder, who would see 28 shots during that time.
Unfortunately one would get by him though, coming 9:21 into the first.
An ill-timed line change by Carolina allowed Cal Clutterbuck to have a free shot while rushing down the wing, giving his team the game-opening goal.
It would go on to be the only tally of the first few frames, as the Canes were lucky to escape the first only trailing by one. Their offense lacked any ability to generate and had a few bounces gone in favor of the Islanders, Carolina's could've been trailing by several.
Instead, in the second, more quality backstopping from Andersen allowed the group in front of him to get to their game. Although they didn't find the equalizer during that frame, it allowed the team to create some momentum leading into the final stanza of regulation.
And in the third, they were able to make it a 1-1 game.
Completely dominating the final 20 minutes of play, Sebastian Aho evened the game with an exceptional play midway through.
