LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� Hours before Game 1 of the , Rod Brind’Amour praised Brandon Bussi while also expressing some measure of relief that the Carolina Hurricanes did not need to turn to their backup goaltender during this playoff run.
鈥淗aven鈥檛 had to use him, (and) to be honest, I hope we don鈥檛 because something鈥檚 gone wrong,鈥� Brind’Amour said.
Turns out the late-blooming goaltender came out of the bullpen after all and backstopped the Hurricanes
鈥淚 thought they were really good tonight, Vegas,” Hurricanes wing Jackson Blake said. 鈥淚f it wasn’t for Bus, there’s no way we’re winning that game.鈥�
After Frederik Andersen was in net for every minute of the first three rounds and the start of the final, Bussi came in during Game 3 and finished out the series. He stopped 81 of the 87 shots he faced against Vegas as Andersen鈥檚 status was shrouded in mystery; the veteran from Denmark did not dress from Game 4 on because of a knee injury that was only revealed after the final was over.
鈥淔reddie battled,” Brind’Amour said. 鈥淗e got a little nicked up, wasn鈥檛 100%. I felt for him, but he got us here and then Bus took over. This is a team.鈥�
Bussi and Andersen embraced after Game 6 ended Sunday night. Andersen, at 36 the second-oldest player on the team, was the first player handed the Cup to after getting it from Commissioner Gary Bettman.
鈥淚t鈥檚 disbelief, really,” Andersen said. “I did not expect that. It really beat every emotion I could think of or what I鈥檝e been feeling.”
Bussi, a 27-year-old from Long Island, was not an unknown quantity for the Hurricanes because he played in nearly half their games this season, winning 31 of his 39 starts to help Carolina earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference. He at a bargain-basement $5.7 million price in February.
Before the past several months, he was on track for the career of a journeyman.
Going undrafted, he spend several years in the Boston Bruins’ farm system with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL and Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Liking what they saw, the astute back-to-back champion Florida Panthers signed him last summer to be their third goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov.
Trying to get him to the AHL in Charlotte, the Panthers lost Bussi when Carolina claimed him off waivers. He and fianc茅e Mary Raclawski were 10 hours into a drive from from South Florida to North Carolina when his agent called to tell him the Hurricanes had claimed him.
鈥淭he next thing you know, the following day I鈥檓 in Raleigh and I鈥檓 on the opening night roster,鈥� Bussi said. “It鈥檚 crazy.鈥�
Injuries to Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov thrust him into an important role for a top contender.
Bussi was even more needed in the final. He entered at the second intermission in Game 3 with the Hurricanes down 4-0. He stopped all 18 shots to allow a stirring comeback, and the only goal he allowed was the Golden Knights’ winner in double overtime when the puck took a bad bounce off the end boards behind him and Bussi inadvertently kicked it in.
In the Game 6 clincher, Bussi denied playoff-leading goal-scorer Brett Howden, who got in all alone in the first period. He stopped Tomas Hertl on a 2-on-1 rush in the second, much to the joy of family members watching from the stands. Then Bussi robbed Hertl and Mark Stone on quality scoring chances in the final few minutes of regulation.
鈥淭heir goalie gives them a really good opportunity in the second part of the series to give them the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said.
Hurricanes fans in Las Vegas chanted 鈥淏uss-i! Buss-i!鈥� on the way to his third career shutout. A journeyman no more, Bussi is now a Stanley Cup champion. So is Andersen.
鈥淭his is something everyone dreams of,” Andersen said. “You don鈥檛 really know what it feels like until you try it, and now we鈥檙e here.鈥�
___
Whyno contributed from New York.
___
AP NHL: and
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
