Andersen ‘available’ to start for Hurricanes in Game 6 of Cup Final

MORRISVILLE, N.C. -- Frederik Andersen hasn’t been ruled out to start for the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The goalie started each of Carolina’s first 16 games this postseason but did not play or dress for Games 4 and 5. Andersen was removed after the second period of Game 3 on June 6 after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Brandon Bussi made 18 saves in relief in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, a 5-4 double-overtime loss, and then started the past two games. Pyotr Kochetkov served as the backup.

With the Hurricanes holding a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series and looking to win the Stanley Cup on Sunday for the first time since 2006, coach Rod Brind’Amour said he’s keeping his options open. Andersen and Kochetkov shared a net at practice Saturday before the team departed for Las Vegas. Bussi had the other net to himself.

“Maybe. We will just kind of see,” Brind’Amour said Saturday. “I know he’s available. Whether we decide to (have Andersen serve as backup) or keep it the same or play him, you know, we’re going to make that decision. It’s nice to have everyone available.”

Andersen is 13-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and three shutouts this postseason, but he’s allowed 12 goals on 65 shots (4.44 GAA, .815 save percentage) against Vegas. Brind'Amour said earlier this week that Andersen was not injured, but he said goalie coach Paul Schonfelder told him on Monday, "Freddie needs a little break."

Bussi has won his two starts and has a 2.18 GAA and .908 save percentage in three games. He made 23 saves in Game 5, a 4-2 win at Lenovo Center on Thursday. Prior to Game 3, he had not played since Carolina’s regular-season finale on April 14, when he made 29 saves in a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders.

Brind’Amour believes Bussi was well-prepared despite the long layoff.

“It might be easier for a goalie sometimes,” Brind’Amour said. “For a (skater), the timing and getting up and down the ice, there’s a million things going on, but a goalie has just got to stop the puck.

“If you put in the work like he has -- he’s been keeping himself ready -- it might not be that big of an adjustment.”

Bussi, who turns 28 on June 25, hadn't played in the NHL before this season; he played three full seasons in the American Hockey League with Providence and had a four-game stint in the ECHL with Maine in 2022-23, after signing with the Boston Bruins as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2025, but was claimed off waivers by the Hurricanes on Oct. 5 when the Panthers tried to send him to Charlotte of the AHL.

In 39 games with Carolina, he went 31-6-2 with a 2.47 GAA and an .895 save percentage.

“He’s been like this the whole season and even the last few months, where he hasn’t played,” Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers said after Game 5. “… To be able to come in like Bussi did, not having played for two months, and then play two games in the Finals and be as calm as he is, and make the saves that he has, is incredible.”

NHL.com senior writers Tom Gulitti and Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report