Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes to help them avoid elimination with a 3-0 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.
The Hurricanes host Game 5 on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
Andersen, who registered his fifth career postseason shutout, did not play in Carolina’s 6-2 loss in Game 3 after surrendering nine goals on 36 shots in the first two games of the series. He had held opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of his nine appearances in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Logan Stankoven, Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal scored for Carolina, which ended a 15-game losing streak in the conference finals.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 26 shots for the Panthers, who were trying to sweep the Hurricanes in the conference finals for the second time in three years.
The Hurricanes took their first lead of the series when Stankoven scored at 10:45 of the second period.
Florida defenseman Seth Jones tried to chip the puck through the neutral zone, but it went to Carolina rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin at the Panthers blue line and he made a backhanded touch pass to Stankoven coming through the neutral zone on his left.
Stankoven had room to bring the puck to the top of the left circle before blasting a wrist shot into the top of the net on the short side.
Nikishin, playing in his third NHL game, all in the current postseason, earned his first NHL point with the assist.
Florida defenseman Nate Schmidt hit the left post 58 seconds after Stankoven’s goal, but the Panthers were mostly quiet on the offensive end through the first two periods.
Florida did not have a shot on goal for a 14:40 stretch that bridged the first and second periods.
The Hurricanes briefly appeared to stretch their lead to 2-0 on a goal by Mark Jankowski with 13:29 left in regulation, but Florida successfully challenged for offsides.
Aho scored into an empty net with 2:11 remaining for an insurance goal 2-0, then Staal did the same with 1:45 to go to make it 3-0.
The Panthers were without forward Sam Reinhart for the second straight game. Reinhart led Florida in goals (38) and points (79) during the regular season.
–Field Level Media
