Hurricanes undecided on starting goalie for Game 4 of Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- The Carolina Hurricanes will wait until after practice on Monday to decide whether Frederik Andersen or Brandon Bussi 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).

Andersen played every minute of every game this postseason for the Hurricanes before Bussi replaced him to begin the third period of their 5-4 double-overtime loss in Game 3 on Saturday. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour initially sounded on Sunday as if he would stick with Andersen, who gave up four goals on 16 shots on Saturday, including four goals on 14 shots in the second period.

“I don't anticipate any changes,” Brind’Amour said. “We'll talk about that after practice tomorrow, kind of the lineup, but I don't make any decisions now.”

When pressed if that meant Andersen will definitely start Game 4, though, Brind’Amour said: “We'll make all the decisions after we practice tomorrow, see how he's feeling. I haven't made any decisions on the lineup, so I can't tell you.”

Carolina trailed 4-0 when Bussi entered the game and made a furious comeback in the third period, including setting a Cup Final record by scoring three goals in 39 seconds. The 27-year-old goaltender stopped the first 18 shots he faced in his first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance, including Mitch Marner’s penalty shot at 4:04 of the third, before Shea Theodore’s shot from the right point caromed off the end boards and banked into the net off the back of his left pad at 5:38 of the second overtime.

Bussi’s performance, combined with Andersen’s unimpressive numbers in the Cup Final (4.44 goals-against average, .815 save percentage), led to questions about which goalie will start Game 4 with Carolina trailing 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.

Andersen had gone 12-1 with a 1.41 GAA, .931 save percentage and three shutouts in the first three rounds of the playoffs, but the Golden Knights have found ways to exploit the Hurricanes defensively, and the 36-year-old hasn’t been able to cover up those mistakes.

“Obviously, don't want to give up some of the chances we've given up, but, overall, I thought he's been fine,” Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to ask him to make the saves that he's got to make, and I think he's done that. A couple of bounces, they are what they are, so he's been solid for us. ‘Bus’ came in and was solid for us, so that's got to continue.”

Whichever goalie starts, the Hurricanes needs to cut down on the defensive mistakes that have plagued them in the first three games, particularly in the second period. The Golden Knights have outscored the Hurricanes 7-1 in the second period in the series. Marner had three goals and an assist in the second period in Game 3.

Marner also hit the post on a breakaway shortly before scoring his second goal and was slashed by Sebastian Aho on a short-handed breakaway in the third period, resulting in his penalty shot.

“He got behind us a couple times,” Brind’Amour said. “That's kind of been a common theme there. We have to know when he's on the ice because that's kind of how he loves to play. If we can eliminate some of those, I call them freebies, where you’ve got to go with him, take that out of there, that'll definitely help.”

Brind’Amour sounded optimistic that fourth-line forward William Carrier would be able to play in Game 4 after he left Saturday with an upper-body injury. Carrier went to the locker room after appearing to injure his left arm trying to hit Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon late in the first period. He returned to play four shifts in the second period before sitting out the remainder of the game.

“I don't have that much on him,” Brind’Amour said. “I’m hopeful he'll be fine, but I haven't talked to [head athletic trainer Doug Bennett] yet this morning.”

If Carrier is unable to play in Game 4, Nicolas Deslauriers and Jesperi Kotkaniemi would be the primary options to replace him. With or without Carrier, Carolina will need to shake off its disheartening Game 3 loss and even the series on Tuesday or head home for Game 5 on Thursday trailing 3-1 and facing elimination.

Although Brind’Amour acknowledged there are some areas the Hurricanes need to fix, he stressed that they were “one shot away” in the two games they lost.

“We believe in how we've got to play, and we understand how hard it is,” he said. “It’s going to be tough and it's going to be a grind and there’s going to be mistakes, and you are just trying to limit those and you're trying to put it on them to make them make their mistakes.

“And, really, who's doing that best is going to end up winning this thing.”