Hurricanes’ Bussi in starter’s crease, Andersen doesn’t skate with team at practice ahead of Game 5
RALEIGH — Carolina captain Jordan Staal scored for the fifth straight game to tie Thursday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Staal has six goals in five games after he redirected a shot from Nikolaj Ehlers past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart with 8:14 left in the first period. His five goals in the first four games of a Final tied him with hockey immortals Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Staal was once again in front of the net, a spot from which Vegas coach John Tortorella said Staal is “killing us” after he had two goals in Game 4.
Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev, who had been held pointless in the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final, opened the scoring Thursday.
The game was tied 1-1. The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2. Game 6 is Sunday in Las Vegas.
Dorofeyev scored on a power-play goal on an assist from Jack Eichel in front of the net. Eichel’s pass went under the stick of Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield and found a streaking Dorofeyev alone on the right side of the net. He shoveled it past Hurricanes goalie Brandon Bussi.
Ehlers was in the box for a delay of game penalty.
Bussi started for the second consecutive game in place of Frederik Andersen, who started the first 16 postseason games for Carolina. Andersen, who wasn’t at the morning practice session open to the media, was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Pyotr Kochetkov is the backup.
And it could be Bussi’s spot for the rest of the series. Carolina recalled goaltender Amir Miftakhov from its AHL affiliate in Chicago before the game — an indication that the team feels it needs additional depth.
The move became public after coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday that “everybody’s available,” including Andersen.
In the morning, Brind’Amour said Andersen skated before the full team practice, which was open to the media. Brind’Amour declined to answer if Andersen, who didn’t dress in Game 4, would be the backup for Game 5.
Bussi replaced Andersen after the second period in Game 3 and earned the win in Game 4 in Vegas, his first career postseason start. An undrafted free agent who was claimed off waivers before the season, Bussi went 31-6-2 in 39 games during the regular season, earning a contract extension and the trust of his team.
“There’s a guy that was given an opportunity,” Brind’Amour said. “Everyone talks about opportunity, you got to do something with it, and he’s done nothing but every start that he’s had.”
Andersen was brilliant through the first few series. But his goals against average has increased each round while his save percentage has decreased. He allowed four goals in the second period of Game 3 before he was removed.
While much of the focus has been on the Hurricanes’ goaltender situation, Vegas is facing questions, too, about Hart.
Hart is 14-6 in the postseason with a 2.51 goals against average, but he has allowed four goals in each of the first four games of the series. His save percentage in the Stanley Cup Final is .877. In a four-game sweep of Colorado in the Western Conference Final, Hart allowed a total of seven goals.
But Vegas coach John Tortorella said in the morning that he’s not concerned with Hart.
“No, no, at all,” he said.
