Hurricanes edge over Sharks to win Brandon Bussi’s NHL debut – The Hockey Writers –

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the San Jose Sharks 43-17 and largely controlled the game in the final two quarters before winning 5-1 to remain undefeated on the season.

Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi, a 27-year-old rookie, made his NHL debut and made 16 saves, including several acrobatic saves, in the victory.

game review

The Sharks were aggressive in the first round, attacking the net multiple times and converting a penalty kick when K’Andre Miller chopped down Macklin Celebrini. However, the Hurricanes effectively stifled the penalties and never allowed San Jose to find a rhythm on the power play. A long back-and-forth ensued, with Carolina getting a slightly better chance.

However, the Sharks responded with some of their best performances of this period. Jeff Skinner played great defense along the blue line, then controlled the puck and fired a shot into the net. He didn’t score thanks to a great save from Busey, but he did convert a penalty and Will Smith nearly scored on the ensuing power play.

San Jose had another power play minutes later when William Carrier’s hard hit on Mario Ferraro resulted in a boarding penalty. On the power play, Tyler Toffoli found a great opportunity in front of the net, but his shot just grazed Busey’s stick and sailed wide of the goal. Almost immediately after, the Hurricanes got a shorthanded breakaway opportunity, leading to a Sharks penalty and the start of their own power play. Although they had several good chances in the remaining minutes, the first period was scoreless.

After going scoreless for the first 20 minutes, Carolina opened the scoring in less than 90 seconds in the second period. On a delayed penalty, Sebastian Aho fought off multiple blocks from former teammate Dmitry Orlov before passing the ball to Shane Walker, who fired a one-timer that sailed past the moving body and into the net. The Hurricanes also continued to build on their momentum, scoring the next few scoring opportunities.

The Sharks responded a few minutes later when Nick Leddy forced a fumble in the neutral zone and Toffoli threw a nice breakaway pass to William Eklund. The Swedish striker beat Busey through five holes to equalize. Unfortunately for San Jose, Adam Gaudet’s hook penalty just over a minute later killed off any chance the Sharks had of building on that goal. While Carolina was held scoreless on the ensuing power play, they dominated much of the remainder of the quarter, forcing the Sharks to follow and maintain control of the puck in the offensive zone. When San Jose got the puck, they had no choice but to play aggressive offensively, which helped set up two breakout goals for the Hurricanes.

In the first game, Jordan Martinook grabbed a rebound and passed a beautiful midcourt pass to Alexander Nikishin in front of the net. He didn’t score, but Kalil followed up with a score to give Carolina the lead. It was his sixth career goal against the Sharks, primarily as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Busey made a great save on Gaudet toward the end of the game, and Eric Robinson slipped behind the Sharks defense as Mike Reilly chased the puck. Riley made a perfect pass, and Robinson broke into the offensive zone and scored, extending Carolina’s advantage to 3-1.

The Hurricanes were even more controlling in the third quarter than they were in the second, holding the Sharks without a single shot on target for the entire 20 minutes. However, they only needed the first eight minutes to effectively end the game. During that stretch, they used good puck movement to score two goals, one from Shane Gostisbehr and one from Jackson Black. The Sharks never really threatened to mount a comeback.

Carolina improved to 3-0-0, while San Jose fell to 0-1-2. The Hurricanes next play on the road against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (October 16). The Sharks’ next game is on the road against the Utah Mammoths on Friday (October 17).

Other things to note

• Busey is the second-oldest goaltender in NHL history to make his debut against the Sharks. The oldest, Ray LeBlanc – who is about a month older than Busey is now – also played in 1992 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks that defeated the Sharks 5-1.
• Jordan Staal played his 900th game as a member of the Hurricanes tonight.
• Tonight is the first time all season the Sharks have trailed despite yet to win a game.