The Stanley Cup Season: Saves That Stunned

RALEIGH, N.C. - Since the Rod Brind'Amour era began at the start of the 2018-19 season, no team has done a better job of keeping the puck out of its net than the Carolina Hurricanes.

Undoubtedly, the unit's commitment to keeping the puck to the outside and allowing the fewest shots on goal per game plays a massive part in that, but saves are needed as well. Sometimes big and timely ones.

This past year, on the road to a Stanley Cup, there were more than a few.

In chronological order, here are a few that stuck with us.

October 20: Andersen's Amazing Glove

To be the best, you've got to beat the best, and the Canes faced an early-season test against the eventual Western Conference Champion Vegas Golden Knights.

Carolina came out of the gates with a 5-0 start to their schedule, but had their hands full at T-Mobile Arena during their first of two meetings in eight days.

Late in the second period, Vegas had a power play opportunity to try and extend their lead, and it looked like Pavel Dorofeyev had done just that for them. Set up on the glove-side circle of Frederik Andersen, Tomas Hertl found the goal-scoring winger, who had a lot of open cage to look at.

However, ranging post-to-post, "Zilla" got it with his trapper, dropping all of our jaws in the process.

January 19: Bussi Turns Down Thompson

Exemplified by their 17-4 shots advantage during the middle stages of the second period, the Canes, as we've seen before many times, were in complete control against the Buffalo Sabres during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at Lenovo Center.

However, a pivotal power play chance gave the Sabres a chance to jump in front.

Carolina had trouble clearing their own end during, leading to a 2-on-0 for superstar Tage Thompson and veteran Jason Zucker. With Zucker staked out at Bussi's glove side, Thompson elected to facilitate down low before rightfully electing to distribute back to the man who finished the season with 40 goals.

Moving side-to-side on the initial feed, the Hurricanes' first-year backstop was then forced to go side-to-side again in order to get back to Thompson's should-have-been slam dunk. He did just that, though, committing larceny unlike anything we'd seen this season.

Fooling just about everyone in the building, TNT's graphics operators, and play-by-play man Alex Faust, Thompson could do nothing but shake his head and look toward the heavens, as Bussi turned in the save of the year.

Really, his day as a whole may have been the best single-game performance by any goaltender in the NHL all season.

June 6: Bussi Denies More Marner Magic

Trailing 4-0 at the start of the third period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Rod Brind'Amour and staff elected to make the switch from Frederik Andersen to Brandon Bussi.

Just 4:04 into the frame, in which his team already appeared dead in the water, Bussi was then tasked to go mano e mano against one of the league's most gifted offensive players, one who was already responsible for three of Vegas' four goals in the contest.

For many, it felt as if a goal were a foregone conclusion. You couldn't possibly expect a mostly-cold first-season NHL backstop to enter in that situation and make the stop, nor would it matter, right?

But rolling over is not the cloth from which Bussi is cut.

As Mitch Marner cut to his backhand, the one-time waiver claim stayed with the bid, getting a piece and keeping the deficit at four.

As we know now, it proved to be especially critical, given that over the next 15 minutes, the Canes were able to make history and crawl all the way back and tie the game late. That opportunity would not have been possible without Bussi's big stop.

The Honorable Mentions...

• Frederik Andersen Flashes The Paddle vs. Vegas on Oct. 28 | WATCH
• Brandon Bussi's Breakaway Denial of Kyle Connor vs. Winnipeg on Nov. 28 | WATCH
• Brandon Bussi Keeps Out Ovechkin @ Washington on Dec. 11 | WATCH
• Sean Walker's Third Period Skate Stop @ Tampa on Mar. 14 | WATCH
• Frederik Andersen's Playoff-Starting, Jaw-Dropping One-Two Combo vs. Ottawa on Apr. 18 | WATCH
• Jaccob Slavin's Goal Line Stop @ Philadelphia on May 7 | WATCH