LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind鈥橝mour is wearing his poker face well in Las Vegas.
Brind’Amour who will be in net Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He鈥檚 just not telling anyone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a suspenseful thing around here that I have to hold on to,鈥� Brind鈥橝mour said Monday after practice. 鈥淚t seems to have taken a life of its own, so I kind of enjoy it.鈥�
Vegas leads the series 2-1 after a on Saturday night. The teams split the first two games in Carolina.
Starting goaltender Frederik Andersen didn鈥檛 practice, which Brind鈥橝mour described as a maintenance day, but backup Brandon Bussi was on the ice along with Pyotr Kochetkov. All three were in rotation over the first three months of the regular season.
Asked what the coaches were telling him about his chances of playing in Game 4, Bussi smirked: 鈥淵ou know, Rod鈥檚 our coach, right?鈥�
, playing every minute of their first 15 playoff games before Bussi replaced him after Vegas took a 4-0 lead after the second period of Game 3.
Bussi shut down the Knights until Shea Theodore鈥檚 game-winning shot caromed off the end boards and went in after the goaltender inadvertently deflected it with his left skate 5:38 into the second overtime.
Brind’Amour told reporters on Sunday he didn’t anticipate 鈥渁 lot of changes鈥� to the lineup, but would 鈥渟ee how (Andersen is) feeling.鈥�
On Monday, the coach quashed the notion that Andersen may have suffered a head injury when Ivan Barbashev鈥檚 left hip viciously collided with the netminder鈥檚 head. , where he lay flat with his arms sprawled out.
, who hadn鈥檛 played since April 14 before replacing Andersen, said his mindset doesn鈥檛 change on how to prepare for a game, whether as a backup or starter.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same thing for me every day,鈥� Bussi said. 鈥淚 put my head down, I work hard. I just do the same thing every time. It鈥檚 easier that way.鈥�
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes said they have confidence in whoever leads the team onto the ice inside T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.
鈥淔reddie has been unbelievable, Bussi鈥檚 been unbelievable this year, and Koch, before he got injured, he was incredible,鈥� Nikolaj Ehlers said. 鈥淪o we got a ton of confidence. We want to play the same hockey that we know we can play. In the end it doesn鈥檛 matter who鈥檚 in the net, we鈥檙e going to do our best to limit their chances and give them less hard work to do during the games.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter. We have full confidence in all three goalies.鈥�
Taylor Hall said the smaller intangibles to consider might be the goaltenders’ styles of play and how to react when an explosive team such as Vegas is firing on net.
鈥淏ussi plays an aggressive style, so I would say it鈥檚 more about taking away the other options around the ice a bit more so that he can just focus on that shot if we do give up a chance,鈥� Hall said. 鈥淲here Freddie鈥檚 more patient, and he鈥檚 more of a, 鈥榣et鈥檚 see what happens.鈥� He鈥� able to kind of save some backdoor plays and things like that.鈥�
In other injury news, forward William Carrier skated at practice Monday after missing the third period and OT after appearing to injure his arm during a check on Jeremy Lauzon.
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