The primary discussion around the hockey water cooler today is, who should start in net for the Carolina Hurricanes in game four of the Stanley Cup Final.
After allowing four goals on 16 shots, (and two more that were not counted), in the first two periods of game 3, Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour did something extremely rare for him. He pulled his starting goaltender.
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After the game, he was quick not to place any blame on his goaltender.
“There was no reason to leave Freddie in there the way that game was going… (Bussi) gave us a chance. (The overtime winner) is a tough break. I hate it for him, because he was playing great.”
It seemed like more of a mercy change, rather than a change to relieve a tired Frederik Andersen. And let’s be frank, Andersen did look tired, to the eye test anyway if not strictly by the poor stats. (.750 save percentage for the game).
Andersen has a SV% of .815 in this series.
Bussi came in and did not allow anything until the goofy game-winner in the second OT. He allowed one goal on 19 shots.
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In the first two series of the playoffs, Andersen was outstanding and was rated the best goalie in the playoffs.
He also played very well in the Montreal series, though not as sparkling as in the first two.
But now in the Stanley Cup Final, he seems slower than in the previous series.
During the past three regular seasons, Brind’Amour has rotated his goalies, seemingly with the idea to keep them fresh. Especially Andersen, who has a history of wearing down if over-played.
Then when the playoffs start, Brind’Amour throws out that strategy and plays Andersen exclusively. While the goalie has played well, after the first two rounds his performance drops below what it was during the earlier playoff series.
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Brind’Amour has done the same thing this postseason, even though Brandon Bussi carried the load during most of the regular season. Bussi posted a 31-6-2 record with a GAA of 2.47 and SV% .895.
In contrast, Andersen was 16-14-5 with a GAA of 3.05 and SV% of .874.
To be fair, Andersen was the better goalie down the stretch although he was played more often than Bussi. After the Olympic break, where Bussi saw no action, they gave Andersen more starts even though he played during the Olympics.
The coaching staff had made their minds up at this time who the Carolina goalie would be during the playoffs. Up until now it has looked like a good decision, but does Andersen have anything left in the tank?
If you were the head coach, who would you go with?
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