A debut in the last place anyone would choose
Brandon Bussi had never started a playoff game. He made his first one the Stanley Cup Final. On Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Carolina Hurricanes goaltender stopped 18 of 21 shots in a 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, evening the best-of-seven series at 2-2. He learned he would play only when he led the team out for warmups. Coach Rod Brind'Amour kept the choice a secret from the media and from Vegas until the last moment. Bussi shrugged at the theatre. "All that matters is that I found out at some point," he said of his first postseason start.
The night tested him early. Carolina raced ahead, Logan Stankoven scoring from the slot at 1:06 and Jackson Blake making it 2-0 at 3:28. Then Vegas came at Bussi directly. Mark Stone was stopped on a short-handed breakaway on the first shot Bussi faced, but converted a second breakaway to cut the lead to 2-1. Stone's goal came at 7:22, set up by a pass from the Vegas zone. Bussi steadied. Jordan Staal answered with a power-play goal for 3-1.
Decided in the third
The middle period slipped away, as it had all series. William Karlsson pulled Vegas within one, and Brett Howden tied it 3-3 with his League-leading 14th goal of the postseason. The game turned on a single sequence early in the third. Staal chipped in his backhand while falling in the low slot, fed by Nikolaj Ehlers, to restore Carolina's lead at 6:32. From there Bussi closed the door. He made nine saves in the third period to earn the win, before Ehlers sealed it with a length-of-the-ice empty-net goal. "He was phenomenal," Brind'Amour said. "He was just really solid all night."
The result closed a season unlike any Bussi had known. He began the campaign with the Florida Panthers and was claimed off waivers by Carolina on October 5. He made his NHL debut on October 14 against San Jose, a 5-1 win. A first shutout followed in November, and by February he had set an NHL record for most wins by a goaltender through his first 25 games. He finished 31-6-2 with two shutouts, yet watched from the bench through the first 16 games of the playoffs behind Frederik Andersen. His chance arrived in relief in Game 3, and he held it in Game 4.
Teammate Nikolaj Ehlers put it plainly. "He was unbelievable tonight," he said. "To go out and put a performance on like that after not playing for a while is impressive."
One start. The biggest stage. The backup had answered.
