While the Chicago Blackhawks have been celebrating their series-tying victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final, it feels as though one player who was on the ice for the game has been given short shrift in the aftermath of the contest.
That player is Anaheim goaltender Frederik Andersen, who ultimately made 53 saves in the game before giving up the final goal of the evening to Marcus Kruger with less than four minutes to go in the third overtime. The game was the second-longest in Ducks team history, but the loss puts a damper on one of the most interesting games this organization has seen.
Despite that, Andersen’s performance has to be lauded. After giving up two goals on eight shots in the first period of the game, Andersen stopped the next 47 shots that he faced, going toe to toe with Corey Crawford as the two goaltenders played some of the best hockey we’ve seen this postseason. Andersen’s saves ranged from the mundane to the spectacular, as his positioning and reaction times were sharp even though the two teams played nearly two full games in one evening.
After surrendering a power play goal to Marian Hossa just over six minutes into the first period, Andersen went nearly 110 minutes without giving up another one. That’s nearly two hours worth of hockey played without surrendering a goal, and even though it wasn’t enough to get the Ducks their eighth consecutive home victory, it still served notice that the goaltender has what it takes to play on the big stage.
