A goalie change is happening in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Hurricanes’ starting goalie, Frederik Andersen, is listed as a healthy scratch — not injured — for Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights, leaving backup Brandon Bussi to make his first career postseason start on Tuesday night. Pyotr Kochetkov was slotted in as the backup as Carolina tries to rally from a 2-1 series deficit.
Andersen was pulled after two periods in Game 3 after allowing four goals on 16 shots.
Bussi came in and was excellent in relief, making 18 saves before allowing a game-losing goal in double overtime after Carolina had rallied from a 4-0 deficit.
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was left to choose between the hot hand and the proven commodity.
“We’ll make all the decisions after we practice tomorrow,” Brind’Amour said Sunday. “We’ll see how he’s feeling. I haven’t made any decisions on the lineup, so I can’t tell you.”
Andersen has been the go-to for the Hurricanes throughout the playoffs, holding a .910 save percentage and allowing 32 goals through 13 games.
While not the most impressive stats, the high-scoring Hurricanes haven’t needed a brick wall to get by their opponents, scoring at least three times in all but two games so far.
Now, against one of the best counter-attacking teams in the NHL, a .910 is not cutting it.
“You obviously don’t want to give up some of the chances we’ve given up, but overall I thought [Andersen’s] been fine,” Carolina’s coach said. “You ask him to make the saves that he’s got to make, and I think he’s done that. A couple of bad bounces, they are what they are. He’s been solid for us.”
In the regular season, though, it was Bussi who made the majority of starts for Carolina, a fact he reminded fans in Game 3 with his .947 save percentage.
While the former Bruin had not made an NHL playoff start before Tuesday, he did play six postseason games in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, allowing 2.20 goals against per game.
“These are the moments you want to be playing in, right?” Bussi said after Game 3. “Just put my head down and have fun with it. It’s been a fun ride. We’re here for a reason. I’ve practiced hard in case something happened. I’m not rooting for that, but my name was called.”
