Hurricanes mum on starting goalie for Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Rod Brind’Amour has decided which of the Carolina Hurricanes goalies will start Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Hurricanes coach isn’t willing to share, though, whether Frederik Andersen or Brandon Bussi will get the call for the pivotal game with his team trailing 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.

“I'm going to keep it quiet,” Brind’Amour said after the Hurricanes' practice Monday. “It's the only suspenseful thing around here that I have to hold on to. It seems to have taken on a life of its own, so I kind of enjoy it.”

The questions about the Hurricanes starting goalie began following their 5-4 double-overtime loss in Game 3 on Saturday, in which Bussi replaced Andersen after he allowed four goals on 16 shots in the first two periods. That Andersen, who has started all 16 of Carolina’s games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far, didn’t practice Monday added to the intrigue.

Brind’Amour called it a “maintenance day,” and said the 36-year-old was fine physically after he was hit in the head in a collision with Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev in Game 3. The clash resulted in a goal from Jack Eichel that was disallowed for goaltender interference at 4:00 of the second period.

The score was tied 0-0 at the time, and Andersen remained in the game and allowed four goals on 12 shots over the remainder of the period. Bussi took over to begin the third with Carolina trailing 4-0, and stopped the first 18 shots he faced before Shea Theodore’s right-point shot caromed off the end boards and bounced into the net off the back of Bussi's left pad at 5:38 of the second overtime.

That was Bussi’s first NHL playoff appearance, and his first game action of any kind since a 2-1 victory against the New York Islanders in the Hurricanes’ regular-season finale on April 14. The 27-year-old was tight-lipped Monday when asked if he’d been told if he’ll make his first NHL playoff start Tuesday.

“You know 'Roddy’s’ our coach, right?” Bussi said. “That’s all I can say. Let’s see you if you guys have better luck.”

Bussi said he always prepares as if he’s going to start, so he won’t need to change his approach for Game 4.

“It’s the same thing for me every day,” he said. “I like to have fun. I put my head down. I work hard. That's about it.”

Bussi had to stay ready while the Hurricanes rode Andersen to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2006, the same year they won their first championship. Andersen was 12-1 with a 1.41 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and three shutouts throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. 

He allowed 12 goals on 65 shots in the first three games of the Cup Final, though, for a 4.44 GAA and .815 save percentage in the series. 

Bussi ended up playing more than anyone expected when Carolina claimed him off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 5 for insurance behind Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. With Kochetkov limited to nine games by a lower-body injury and Andersen struggling at times (16-14-5, 3.05 GAA, .874 save percentage), Bussi ended up starting a team-high 39 regular-season games and was 31-6-2 with a 2.47 GAA, .895 save percentage and two shutouts.

“He’s a huge reason why we are where we are right now,” Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “He’s a big presence back there – literally (6-foot-4, 218 pounds) and figuratively. He’s been awesome for us. … He’s been so humble about it all, and then he gets tossed into the deep end of the pool last game and he came up with some massive saves. 

“We don’t make that comeback (four goals in the third period of Game 3) like we did -- it didn’t end the way wanted it to, but we don’t even have a chance of making that -- if not for him.”

Bussi has seemed unfazed by it all. He faced just two shots before Mitch Marner, who had three goals and an assist in the second period, was awarded a penalty shot when he was slashed by Sebastian Aho on a short-handed breakaway at 4:04 of the third. Bussi calmly stopped Marner’s backhand with his catching glove, keeping the score at 4-0 and sparking the Hurricanes’ comeback.

“A lot of things for me this year have happened (with) kind of crazy circumstances,” Bussi said. “The way my time here started, the last game of the regular season (when he had to start because Kochetkov was ineligible to play). Some wild things have happened, so nothing really surprises me anymore.”

The Hurricanes are used to playing in front of both goalies, so it wouldn’t change much for them.

“They both have their strengths,” Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall said. “But Bussi is a guy that tends to have some really, really strong games and then some games where he would like to have some back. But we saw all season long some of the saves and some of the moments that he had, and he was really cool to watch.”

One significant difference between the two goalies is that Andersen catches with his left hand, like the majority of NHL goalies, and Bussi catches with his right. In fact, Marner acknowledged after Game 3 that he was unaware the Hurricanes switched goalies after the second period and was surprised when he saw Bussi’s glove on the right hand on his penalty shot.

“It’s different,” Hall said. “I shot on him today and I have to try and go high glove on him, where I wouldn’t try that as much on a normal goalie. It does throw you off a bit, and sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad.”