Rod Brind'Amour singles out one player after costly SCF Game 3 defeat
Rod Brind'Amour made a move in the crease Saturday night that changes everything heading into Game 4, pulling Frederik Andersen at the start of the third and turning to Brandon Bussi with the Carolina Hurricanes trailing Las Vegas.
Andersen had allowed 4 goals on 16 shots through two periods, a .750 save percentage that Brind'Amour clearly decided he'd seen enough of.
Bussi answered. He stopped 18 of 19 in 45:26 of work, carrying the Hurricanes through a full third period and into overtime before giving up the Game winner.
Las Vegas now leads this series 2-1.
Brind'Amour did not dance around the decision after the game.
That's about as clear a vote of confidence in a backup as you'll hear from a coach who just watched his team lose.
Andersen's playoffs numbers now impossible to ignore
Andersen has posted a .910 save percentage over 16 playoff starts this postseason, with 3 shutouts. That's a legitimately strong body of work. But last night looked nothing like that.
Four goals on 16 shots is the kind of performance that gets you a seat on the bench, no matter what your track record says. Like a star pitcher yanked in the third inning of a World Series game, the moment simply wasn't his.
Bussi has been one of the better stories of this Carolina run. He went 23-6-6 in the regular season with a .893 save percentage in 39 starts. Last night was his first playoff appearance.
He made $775,000 this season. Andersen counts $2.75 million against the cap.
What Brind'Amour does in Game 4 on Tuesday in Las Vegas is the only question that matters right now.
He backed Bussi publicly and without hesitation. That's not nothing coming from a coach who tends to say less than he means.
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If Bussi starts Game 4, it's the biggest goaltending call of Carolina's season. If Andersen gets the net back, Brind'Amour has some explaining to do to a locker room that watched him use his post-game podium to build the other guy up.
The series is tied to a razor's edge. One crease decision now cuts right through it.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||