Brandon Bussi will start as goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes when they face the New York Islanders on Thursday night in Raleigh. Bussi, who has a record of 2-1-0 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average, previously secured wins against the Sharks and Kings during Carolina’s recent road trip.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour commented on Bussi’s performance: “He’s had three solid starts. We’d love to see him get another one. He deserved it,” Brind’Amour said after the morning skate. “He’s just solid. He certainly didn’t look at any point, nervous. He looked like, ‘This is where I belong,’ and he certainly played that way.”
On defense, Charles Alexis Legault is expected to return to the lineup after missing previous action. Legault was paired with Mike Reilly during the morning session, while Joel Nystrom skated alongside Jalen Chatfield. Domenick Fensore is likely to be a healthy scratch for tonight’s game.
The projected forward lines include Ehlers-Aho-Jarvis; Hall-Stankoven-Blake; Svechnikov-Staal-Martinook; and Kotkaniemi-Jankowski-Nadeau. The defensive pairings are Nikishin-Walker, Chatfield-Nystrom, and Reilly-Legault.
Injury updates list William Carrier (lower-body injury) and Eric Robinson (upper-body injury) as out for an extended period since October 23. Shayne Gostisbehere remains sidelined with a midsection injury without a set timetable for return. Pyotr Kochetkov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while K’Andre Miller may return soon following his own lower-body issue reported on October 27. Jaccob Slavin also continues to recover from a lower-body injury noted earlier this month.
Power play units feature Aho, Ehlers, Jarvis, Svechnikov, and Walker on the first unit; Blake, Hall, Nadeau, Stankoven, and Nikishin make up the second unit.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
