Rod Brind’Amour is keeping his cards close on the decision to go with either rookie Brandon Bussi or veteran Frederik Andersen for the crease, leaving fans guessing ahead of a pivotal Stanley Cup matchup.
The Carolina Hurricanes' lips are sealed heading into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
While many are wondering who will be the team's starting goaltender tonight, Rod Brind'Amour has decided to keep that information to himself.
"Everybody's available," Brind'Amour said following Thursday's morning skate. "As far as the lineup goes, that's all I'm going to talk about. Everybody's available."
So that means it's anyone's guess heading into warmups.
Here's what we do know though:
Just like before Game 4, Frederik Andersen did not take part in the Canes' morning skate, with Brandon Bussi instead manning the prototypical starter's crease.
However, Bussi did end up starting in Game 4, with Pyotr Kochetkov even backing him up, and the rookie netminder wound up backstopping his team to a crucial win.
"He was phenomenal," Brind'Amour said. "We got a taste of it the other night and he kind of just picked up right where he left off, I thought. We gave up a couple breakaways early and just some breakdowns and he was just really solid all night. Have to give him a lot of credit."
After Game 4, Brind'Amour said that Andersen was just taken out of the lineup simply to give him rest.
"Freddie needed a little break and if you're going to give him a break, you need to give him a break," Brind'Amour said. "So to me, him dressing and going through all that, that's just not really giving him a night off. So that was it."
However, as stated before though, Andersen didn't skate with the team again on Thursday, but Brind'Amour said that Andersen at least took to the ice earlier in the morning.
It's going to be another wait and see situation, but could we be seeing an official handing over of the torch?
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