Watch: Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen swings the puck to center ice

Frederik Andersen, whimsical from coast to coast?

Okay, so the Carolina Hurricanes goaltender didn’t drag the puck from redline to redline in Tuesday’s matchup with the New York Rangers, but he made it halfway. It is perhaps the equivalent of the goalkeeper.

On a delayed penalty from Rangers early in the second period, Andersen took off for the Canes bench. While on his way, teammate Martin Necas tried to get around him and ended up handing the puck to Andersen instead.

And Freddie left. He handled the stick, of all people, silky Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin, carrying the puck to the halfway line before returning a backhand pass into the Canes area to defenseman Tony DeAngelo. Watch:

Freddie what 🤣 pic.twitter.com/zl0GpemOED

— x-Caroline Hurricanes (@Canes) April 13, 2022

Andersen never made headlines for his puck handling like Martin Brodeur or Marty Turco did in their prime, and Andersen was never placed in the same class as Mike Smith in this generation. But Andersen has always been an above average puck handler and he showed it on Tuesday.

The piece was reminiscent of Andersen’s childhood idol, Patrick Roy:

Andersen therefore now has one of the best highlights of the 2021-2022 season. Will he also have individual equipment by the end of the season? The Vezina Trophy remains Igor Shesterkin’s loss, but, entering Tuesday’s games, Andersen led the NHL in goals-against average while ranking third in wins and fourth in save percentage.