Tragedy strikes Carolina Hurricanes player as team advances to Stanley Cup Final

Five of his 13 NHL seasons were spent with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where first-round exits defined every spring. On Friday in Raleigh, he finally broke through in the most painful way imaginable.

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final. Andersen made 23 saves and never looked rattled.

One day earlier, he learned that Claude Lemieux, his longtime agent and the man he has called family, had died at 60.

Lemieux was a four-time Stanley Cup champion who became one of Andersen's earliest clients after his playing career.

He carried the ceremonial torch at the Bell Centre before Game 3 in Montreal just days before his death.

Jordan Martinook could barely finish his postgame comments about what Andersen carried onto the ice that night.

Andersen told TNT afterward that showing up for Lemieux and making him proud was all that mattered.

From 2016 to 2021, Andersen went 149-74-36 in 268 games with the Leafs. He was often the only consistent defensive presence on a team still figuring out how to win when it counted.

Toronto never surrounded him with the structure a deep playoff run requires. Carolina did, and Andersen has anchored a 12-1 run through three rounds this spring.

The steadiness that once frustrated Leafs fans wanting more visible emotion is exactly what carried Andersen through Friday.

That calm composure allowed him to perform through the kind of pain most people never face at work.

He faces the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final starting June 2.

After 13 seasons and one devastating loss, the moment Andersen has chased his entire career is finally here.