ELMONT, N.Y. — The Hurricanes are going back to Frederik Andersen for Game 4 of their first round series with the Islanders.
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said Saturday morning before the game it wasn’t a difficult decision to stick with Andersen after he won the series’ first three games.
“It was more talking to Freddie to see where he was at,” Brind’Amour said of the decision to go back to Andersen.
Last season, Andersen made his first start of the playoffs in the deciding Game 6 against the Islanders in Round 1 and started the next three, winning Games 1 and 2 at home against New Jersey before being pulled early in the second period after allowing four goals on 12 shots in an 8-4 loss. Pyotr Kochetkov ended up with the loss since he allowed the fifth, and game-winning, goal.
The Islanders are making a change in net, going back to Semyon Varlamov after Ilya Sorokin flamed out in Game 3. It will the first time Varlamov appeared in four straight games since March 2022.
Last dance for longtime Islanders?
Cal Clutterbuck could be playing his final game with the Islanders.
Clutterbuck, acquired by New York for Nino Niederreiter back in the summer of 2016, is in his 17th season and has played 718 regular-season games with New York — 12th most in franchise history. The 36-year-old, who has more than 4,000 hits in his career, is in the final season of a two-year, $3.5 million contract.
Matt Martin may have already played his final game. The 34-year-old will miss Game 4 with a lower-body injury and is also on an expiring contract. He ranks seventh all time in games with the Islanders at 823, and his 985 penalty minutes — in an era without much fighting — rank sixth in franchise history.
“So much respect for what he brought to this organization,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said, adding a sense of finality to Martin’s situation.
With Martin out, rookie Ruslan Iskhakov will make his NHL playoff debut. The 5-foot-7 winger, who will start the night with Clutterbuck and Kyle MacLean, had an assist in his one NHL game during the regular season and had 18 goals and 50 points in 69 games with AHL Bridgeport this season.
