RALEIGH, N.C. — The fans chanted “Fred-die, Fred-die,” as Frederik Andersen, one of many midsummer arrivals for the Carolina Hurricanes, came out for a curtain call. At the halfway point of the season, the serenade was a vocal and visceral reminder of just how precisely things have gone as planned after turning over a third of the roster.
The playoff spots in the Eastern Conference are all but set with half the season to go, and as the Hurricanes head into the All-Star break off Sunday’s 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks — their fourth straight win, all by one goal — a good chunk of the pressure is already being pushed ahead to April and beyond.
Sunday had a little bit of that postseason kind of feel — closely played, with the Sharks dumping Andrei Svechnikov into their open bench door and knocking Seth Jarvis off his skates — but the Hurricanes never looked uncomfortable for a second.
