LAS VEGAS — Sports can be so wickedly mean sometimes.
Imagine being a relief pitcher, coming in with the bases loaded and no outs, somehow escaping the jam, then hurling several scoreless innings — only to lose on a nothing infield dribbler.
That’s what happened to Brandon Bussi on Saturday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender was handed a hopeless assignment and nearly turned it into one of the most legendary relief appearances in Stanley Cup Final history.
After not playing for 53 days, the 27-year-old rookie was thrown into Game 3 of the Final with his team staring at a 4-0 deficit to the Vegas Golden Knights. He could have simply mopped up the final period of the game and dragged Carolina into two much-needed off days.
Instead, he slammed the door shut on Vegas. Save after save, the 27-year-old gave his teammates room to claw back, and somehow a game that looked dead before the second intermission was still alive one regulation period and one-plus overtimes later.
Bussi stopped what would have been Mitch Marner’s fourth goal of the game, and a potential 5-0 deficit, on a penalty shot. And after stopping all nine shots he faced in the third period, he stopped seven more in the first overtime, including robbing William Karlsson with 41 seconds left and keeping out a dangerous deflection toward his own net from Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
In all, he stopped 18 of 19 shots in relief of Freddie Andersen, who was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 second-period shots.
Yet, despite surviving all that literal and figurative pressure, Bussi and the Hurricanes’ night ended on the cruelest kind of hockey goal — a fluky bounce that ended a classic, epic playoff game in lame fashion and a 5-4 loss.
“Kind of felt like it was going to be a greasy one,” Bussi said. “Unfortunately, it was in our net.”
A little more than 5 1/2 minutes into Period 5, Shea Theodore’s one-timer sailed wide of the net, hit the dasher, skipped back toward the crease, eluded Jordan Martinook’s stick and ricocheted into the net off Bussi.
Game over, with Vegas taking a 2-1 series lead despite Carolina’s four-goal third-period comeback.
“Shot from the point. I saw it all the way,” Bussi said after his first game since April 14. “It hit the yellow and shot out a lot quicker than I thought, so I guess I kicked it in. It stinks. It’s not what we wanted. We felt like we had our chances in overtime, but to win the Stanley Cup, it’s hard. We put this one behind us.”
Bussi’s .947 save percentage was the fourth-best mark in a relief performance in Stanley Cup Final history among goalies who made at least 14 saves, per NHL stats. Understandably, in most cases in which a starting goalie leaves a game, the result is not a win. Here are the top 10 such appearances:
PlayerYearSV-SASv%W/L
Hank Bassen, Red Wings
1961
20-20
1.000
L
Roger Crozier, Sabres
1975
26-27
.963
W
Calvin Pickard, Oilers
2025
22-23
.957
W
Brandon Bussi, Hurricanes
2026
18-19
.947
L
Cory Schneider, Canucks
2011
30-32
.938
L
Hank Bassen, Red Wings
1966
28-30
.933
L
Brian Hayward, North Stars
1991
16-18
.889
L
Don Simmons, Maple Leafs
1962
18-21
.857
L
Anthony Stolarz, Panthers
2024
16-19
.842
L
Dominik Hasek, Blackhawks
1992
21-25
.840
L
The biggest question now, besides how Carolina will recover from such a heartbreaking loss, is whether coach Rod Brind’Amour and staff will come back with Bussi in Game 4 or give Andersen a reprieve.
It has been a tough go so far in the Final for Andersen. After allowing 20 goals in 13 games in the first three rounds, the Danish goalie has allowed 12 in eight periods against the Golden Knights. He allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of 13 games before the Final. But the 36-year-old has allowed five goals, three goals and four goals, respectively, in this series.
Brind’Amour said the decision to pull Andersen simply came down to the fact that “there was no reason to leave Freddie in there the way that game was going.”
He felt terrible for Bussi, saying, “I hate that that’s the goal,” because he was playing so well.
“There’s nothing you could do,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s just a bad break.”
In Las Vegas — the sports betting capital of the world — it would seem like a sure thing to bet on Bussi starting Game 4 on Tuesday night instead of Andersen. But Brind’Amour was not about to go there yet, saying they have a couple of days to assess what they’ll do for the next game.
But there’s no doubt, as Andrei Svechnikov said after Saturday’s game, that Bussi looked “very confident.”
“He was incredible,” Martinook said. “But we know we’ve had two good guys all year, so we have a ton of faith in Bus, and he played well when he got in there.”
Bussi started 39 games in the regular season after being plucked off waivers in October, winning 31 of them. It was a historic performance — the fewest games (24) to reach 20 wins in NHL history and fewest to reach 25 wins (29).
But after a bit of regression and Andersen posting a better save percentage in the Hurricanes’ final 25 regular-season games (.879 to .864), including three back-to-backs, and saving more goals than expected, Bussi had been on the bench for this entire playoff run, watching Andersen’s stinginess. Going from weeks of inactivity to stopping 18 consecutive shots in the biggest game of his life was impressive to say the least.
“I think we probably could have been a little better for Freddie there in the second,” Bussi said. “And if my name got called, my job’s just to put my head down and stop the puck. Honestly, I was pretty even keel. I think these are the moments you want to be playing in, right? So I just put my head down. Have fun with it. And it was a great effort by us. Obviously, a tough bounce there in overtime.”
Before the series, Brind’Amour lauded the job Bussi had done this season and his ability to stay patient while not getting a lick of action this postseason. He said he hoped he wouldn’t have to use Bussi this series “because it means something’s gone wrong. But he’s more than capable.”
Bussi sure proved that Saturday night, and something did go wrong.
If Bussi hears his name called in Game 4, you can bet he’ll be ready.
“Absolutely, (but) that’s not my call though,” Bussi said. “Fred’s the reason why we’re here right now. So if they tell me I’m going, great. If not, I’ll be ready.”
Carolina’s comeback made Bussi the goalie of the record. The box score will show a loss. Anybody who watched knows Bussi deserved better.