The Carolina Hurricanes are on a roll and will look to keep it going when they kick off a three-game road trip with a visit to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes head into the contest on a four-game winning streak. That includes three straight shootout victories, most recently dispatching the Philadelphia Flyers in a back-to-back set on Saturday and Sunday. It’s part of a 7-2-0 stretch for the team, which has moved from one point out of top spot in the Eastern Conference on Nov. 27 to claiming that spot with a three-point lead on second place entering Tuesday’s NHL schedule.
A key part of their success has been the play of goalie Brandon Bussi. The 27-year-old is 11-1-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 12 games with Carolina. Wanting insurance for Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, the Hurricanes claimed the undrafted netminder off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 5.
He made his NHL debut Oct. 14 and won his first two games before taking his first and only loss Oct. 25 against the Dallas Stars. He hasn’t tasted defeat since.
“I just try and bring my best every game,” Bussi said. “I feel good right now. I feel confident. I feel like if I see the puck, I have a good chance to stop it.”
In earning his 10th win of the season in his 11th game on Dec. 11 at the Washington Capitals, he became the fastest goalie in NHL history to reach the mark.
“Just feeling very confident with him,” forward Andrei Svechnikov said. “The number one thing, once you feel confident in the goalie, the game comes easy, and I feel like that’s what we feel as a group. Obviously, he’s playing unbelievable hockey here, and he’s just going to keep doing that.”
Bussi was in goal for the last meeting against the Predators, making 19 saves in a 6-3 win for Carolina.
That was a rare loss for Nashville, which has started to get results after a rough start to the season. The Predators are 7-3-0 in their past 10 games after losing eight of their previous nine (1-7-2). They have more wins during their current run than they had through their first 22 games (6-12-4).
“Going through that rough stretch and not winning… it wasn’t fun coming to the rink,” center Ryan O’Reilly said. “Everyone’s heavy, you’re kind of exhausted, and when you win you can feel how much that changes. I know for myself, you feel a lot lighter out there. You seem like the bounces start to go your way.
“It’s fun to come to the rink. Winning’s fun. Winning cures everything, and (we’re) doing a lot of good things. We have to follow that up.”
O’Reilly has been a key contributor to the team’s success of late. He has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak entering Wednesday’s game and has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) over their 10-game run.
Nashville will be looking for a second straight win and fourth in their past five games after skating away with a 5-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
