With Game 1 imminent, Hurricanes' starting goalie remains a mystery. Veteran presence or rookie surge? The decision looms large for Carolina.
Game 1 of the Carolina Hurricanes first round series against the Ottawa Senators is set to take place in less than 48 hours, but so far, it looks like the Canes aren't quite yet decided on who'll start in net.
At least, that's what Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour told the media at Thurday's practice.
"We'll get to that when we have to," Brind'Amour said. "We have another practice and then we'll figure everything out after that. They both played really well in the last stretch there. Gave us exactly what we wanted and so we have a decision to make."
It should be noted though that Frederik Andersen had a crease to himself on Thursday — the prototypical starter's net — and if I were to make a bet, I'd say he has the best odds of starting Saturday.
Despite weak regular season numbers, the veteran netminder is an experienced goaltender who's proven that he can deliver in the postseason.
The Danish goalie is heading into his 10th year of playoff hockey and over the course of his career, he's been pretty reliable, with a career postseason record of 46-35 along with a 0.914 save percentage, 2.40 goals against average and five shutouts.
Andersen also looked much more like himself in the final weeks of the regular season, a promising sign.
"I like where my game's at," Andersen said on Thursday. "I've just been trying to build every day and continue to work on good habits. I know what it feels like when I'm playing well, so I'm just continuing to stretch for that every day."
And even if Andersen starts Game 1, there's no guarantee that he's the guy all the way.
"There's a likelihood that you'll see both, probably," Brind'Amour said.
Rookie netminder Brandon Bussi has had quite the year in Carolina, putting together the best numbers out of any Hurricanes goalie.
Bussi started the most games for the Canes this year, posting an outstanding 31-6-2 record.
However, he had just a 0.894 save percentage, a number that started to really slip post Olympic break.
Heading into the Olympics, Bussi had a 0.906 save percentage and looked to be the guy for Carolina. However, he struggled out of the break, posting just a 0.864 save percentage in that span.
But as Brind'Amour pointed out, Bussi had a good close to the year, stopping 50 out of the 53 shots he faced in back-to-back games, and overall, he probably has the higher ceiling between the two goaltenders at this point.
"I feel good," Bussi said. "I think over the course of the year, I've learned a lot. I've also learned that there's a lot about my game that I like. When I do those things right, I have success."
And even though he hasn't ever experienced NHL playoff hockey, he isn't a stranger to high-stakes games.
"I'm just really excited," Bussi said. "Obviously it's a little new, first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but I've been in the American Hockey League playoffs, junior hockey playoffs, college, the one-and-done environments, so I'm not gonna say I'm used to it, it's going to be a little different, but I feel pretty prepared for situations like this."
Many fans have also been curious about the possibility of even seeing Pyotr Kochetkov in net, but it doesn't sound like the team is really considering him at this point.
The Russian netminder hasn't seen NHL action since Dec. 20 and has only seen 60 minutes of total game action of any kind following his surgeries thanks to a short conditioning stint down in the AHL earlier this month.
"We were hoping to get him in for that last game, but we had that little mishap there and weren't able to see where he's at," Brind'Amour said. "He's certainly healthy, but I wouldn't call him an option yet. But it looks like he could if we had to. You never know if you're gonna need that, but it's nice to know that if you get into a jam and guys do get hurt, we have some options."
So it's going to be between Andersen and Bussi and we probably aren't going to get any confirmation on that until Saturday.
"You'll get one of those two guys, I'll guarantee that," Brind'Amour said with a smirk.
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