Carolina Hurricanes Lose Goaltender

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen has entered COVID-19 protocol.

Although teams are currently enjoying their holiday break, this news does impact the Canes once everything gets started up again. Andersen will have to go through a 10-day quarantine before returning to the team. Assuming December 27th's game against the Florida Panthers occurs, he certainly won't be able to play. With that, he should be out for the rest of December as well.

There's no question that the Hurricanes aren't in a position where they have to be too worried about the standings. At this juncture, they have a 21-7-1 record and are one of the top teams in the league. Yet, Andersen is a primary reason why they are performing this magnificently.

In 21 games this campaign, Andersen has a 16-5-0 record, 1.93 GAA and .930 SV%. With these kind of numbers, he certainly is having a Vezina Trophy caliber season. Antti Raanta has been solid when in goal, but he's also had a lot of injury trouble.

Elliotte Friedman also noted that Andersen was expected to return to Toronto for the first time since leaving for January 3rd's contest against the Maple Leafs. Yet, that's now in serious jeopardy.

Hurricanes in TOR on Jan 3…would have been Andersen’s return. Nice story and a fun subplot. Unfortunately, I do not like this math. https://t.co/Y0SSHW0n5A

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 22, 2021

Photo Credit: © James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports