"It's not going to be 'Freddie' tomorrow, I can tell you that," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said Sunday. "He did touch the ice today, so you can take what you want out of that."
It was the first time Andersen has been on the ice since the goalie sustained a lower-body injury during the third period of a 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on April 16 while extending his left leg to make a save. He missed the final six games of the regular season.
The 32-year-old was 35-14-3 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and four shutouts this season after signing as a free agent July 28.
Antti Raanta will start Game 1 when the Hurricanes host the Bruins (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, BSSO, NESN).
Raanta was 15-5-4 with a 2.45 GAA, .912 save percentage and two shutouts in the regular season. He has appeared in five Stanley Cup Playoff games, all in relief, most recently in 2020 with the Arizona Coyotes when he had a 6.00 GAA and .714 save percentage in two games. He was 0-1 with a 2.56 GAA and .895 save percentage in three games with the New York Rangers in 2016.
"That's pretty much the goal when you play hockey, you want to play these (playoff) games," Raanta said. "It's going to be exciting. I think the whole team is excited. At the same time, you just try to focus on the right things. It's more about preparing like it's a hockey game, not that special."
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Bruins series coverage]
Pyotr Kochetkov, selected in the second round (No. 36) of the 2019 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut in a 3-2 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on April 23. He was 3-0-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .902 save percentage in three games with the Hurricanes, including two starts.
Raanta started four of the final six games of the regular season, including a 27-save performance in a 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils in the season finale on April 29. Kotchetkov started the previous game, making 34 saves, in the Hurricanes' 4-3 win against the Rangers to win the Metropolitan Division.
Forward Martin Necas did not practice for the second day in a row Sunday. He scored a goal and had an assist against the Devils on Thursday.
"He could have (practiced on Sunday)," Brind'Amour said. "But we got that extra day (off) which we probably won't have now for a while, so we just kept him off. I'm assuming he will be good (Monday)."
Forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Max Domi returned to practice after being held out Saturday.
