Brandon Bussi backstops the Carolina Hurricanes to third straight win in his NHL debut
Well, as we kick things off on this Wednesday, halfway through, if you can believe it or not, the month of October, yes, the day before the state fair, which means the Carolina Hurricanes are on their state fair road trip. Out west, took on the San Jose Sharks, which they won this morning. You can actually say that with truth for those of you who live here in the Eastern time zone listening to us. The Carolina Hurricanes won a hockey game this morning, 5 to1 over the San Jose Sharks in which the first period was uh was a little wishy-washy and was a little back and forth and I think a lot of you may have checked out after that first period, but with this program, we make the promise to you, we stay up so you don’t have to. And so, it’s easy for us to talk about a 5-1 win in which it looked like the Carolina Hurricanes were a little bit on cruise control during that first period and then finally opened things up in that second. And I think the one of the better goals not necessarily came in that second period, but we got to see William Kerry a strike for the first time on a long shot. Jackson Blake had the fifth goal in that third period from way out on the point which had no business hitting that one, but he did. But the best goal of the night, amazingly enough, was from a defenseman was Shane Gospar in which the Carolina Hurricanes played some tic-tac-toe and it was very, very clean passing set him up. He was the only one. It was it was uh it was Mighty Ducks flying Vesque more than anything else. There was an easy shot by Hall who dished it to Stan Coven. Stan Coven found a trailing Goss Bear and Goss Bear buried it and you knew it was over at that point. You knew that the Canes had outclassed the Sharks in which there are two teams in the NHL that have no losses in their loss column. One, the Dallas Stars. The other, the Carolina Hurricanes. And I’m not talking about overtime losses. You get a point for overtime losses. Not talking about overtime losses. I’m talking about pure victories and pure losses. And the Hurricanes have three wins and have now struck on the road for the first time. Head coach Rod Bindore early this morning talked about getting lineup contributions all up and down. Well, I thought it was really, you know, third period was phenomenal. That’s exactly how you want to play it. You know, when you’re ahead, I don’t even we gave up really anything. So, and we were all over too. So, I I think but but to your point, everyone contributed tonight. Like you go down the whole list and some guys had real good games, but everybody was uh impactful and great to see from Brandon, you know, getting that first one. He was impactful early on made, you know, a few huge saves that, you know, just makes us able to settle in and got us the win. And that cannot be overlooked when we talk about that first period. Brandon Busy had quite the night channeling his inner Pota Coachkov at times which scared me a little bit as he moved out of the crease a little bit more but Max I think he he he bailed them out early on when the the Hurricanes couldn’t get out of their own way when it came to the penalty box. He was looking extremely sharp like to me he didn’t look like a goalie who was making his first NHL start. Uh even pretty much right away he makes the big glove save on uh Demetri Orlov who had a lot of space on that first save. Skinner too, right? Yeah. And then uh you know it’s as good of a game as he played. Shane Gospare had one of the worst turnovers and then got absolutely spun and uh Jeff Skinner just completely blew by him to get that partial breakaway where uh I I think it might have hit the post. But regardless, Busy was there like he he got into the um just enough into the the flying V and would have been able to make the save regardless. But he was incredibly sharp last night and it was very encouraging. His movement looked crisp. He looked confident. He’s a big guy. We talked about this before the show. Sure. You can’t really teach size. Like when you have a 6’4 goalie like that and then you slap the the the pads on there. I mean, that takes up a lot of net. Uh and then combine that with crisp movement and good technique and good positioning and it’s really hard to score. Um and then you know the one goal the Sharks did get past him, there was just a barrage of stretch passes that they were completing for that little bit of the second period. Yeah, they they were they were really uh it was weird how much kind of open space they had. I’m not sure why the middle of the ice was so open for that brief stretch in the second period. The D was maybe getting a little bit too far outside the circles, but they eventually they shorted up and they weren’t completing those. But it was it did feel like kind of stretch pass after stretch pass there in the early second was just getting there and they were getting partial break or a breakaway and eventually uh they do pot the one five hole on him but he was good and he didn’t he didn’t face a shot in the third period because the defense really locked in and and we Kane’s had the puck the entire period effectively so it’s it’s hard to give up a goal when you don’t face a single shot. Um, but you know, for his part, he kept them in the game early. There there were plenty of very high quality chances early in that game and he was up to the task, kept them in the game uh and allowed the offense to go ahead and get that stiff arm and and get them out in front. Yeah, the uh Yeah, that it it felt like we were living in the box there for about six, seven minutes. I mean, I know they were just there two-minute penalties, but it just felt like the train just kept rolling down the road, you know, it was really early. It’s like slashing, you know, just a minute into the period. They’re like, “Are you serious?” Jordan Stall, congratulations on your 900th game is a hurricane. You can play half of the first period because they’re on the the penalty kill the entire time. It felt like he it felt like he almost never got off the ice. I was like, “All right, man. Hey, 900 games. You’re going to play as much as if it’s your as if it’s your first. Hopefully those legs are still fresh because we got to keep clearing that puck out on the PK.” But the PK was good as well. No, Jacob Slavven. Yeah. Uh, still managed five for five on the penalty kill. It was a very good complete team effort. Head coach Rod Ridenmore did talk about that penalty kill going five for five without Jacob Slavven on the ice. You’re not going to replace that player and we know we need him back desperately, but like I said, Ri steps in. Um, you know, first period would take three penalties. That could be the game right there if we don’t kill those. goalie was the first star in that, but the other guys did a great job, too. And um you know, especially even in the third, we get they get a penalty every power play and we’re able to snuff it right up. So, like I said, good contribution for flushing toilets and doing hair drying apparently as they have to move on to Anaheim here in a couple of nights. So, Busy had a good night pretty clearly. Uh debuts for a couple of guys. Uh Mark Janowski got his first real shifts on the ice as a Carolina Hurricanes uh center, centered that fourth line. Did really well in the faceoff circle. I mean, it’s in the limited time that he had out there, you know, made an impact. And Mike Riley stepping in, too. Uh if if Slavven has to sit for an extended period of time, Max, Mike Riley could turn out. Again, this is just one game, so it’s easy to overreact. He did take quite a few shots on goal, which was kind of surprising. I was like, boy, he is not afraid at all to let to let it rip. Um, but for him, you know, to make that kind of a de debut and play those kind of minutes, he might be the he might be the steel of the offseason uh for Eric Tolsky in this team. Yeah, he’s uh always been a a fairly just solid defenseman and he’s bounced around a little bit in the league now. He’s played for the Islanders. Uh I remember he used to be with the Wild for a little while, right? um you know, you can’t teach experience like that. And he looked he looked pretty comfortable uh in his time. Obviously had the great uh stretch pass that led to the Robinson goal that put them up three to one, an assist right away. Um so he he slided in nicely. Uh, and assuming no more injuries on the on the defensive core, uh, I think he can fill in and and fill that role as well as as well as anybody that you’re just kind of bringing off the street or uh that you’re counting on to be that seventh guy and to bring that veteran presence and to not panic and not make uh mistakes in there. He looks good. But in terms of the left side of the defense, I mean, I don’t think we could get enough minutes for uh Alexander Nikes. He was he was fantastic last night. boy, he, you know, put another point on the board. He’s, you know, took a few shots. He, you know, missed a chance on that first goal. You know, if it it wouldn’t be a Carolina Hurricanes game if it if it if it didn’t involve some shots hitting the post and him and Chatfield both rung rung the bell uh during last night’s game against San Jose. Yeah, Nikeshian all, you know, his his numbers look really good. He’s going he’s he’s earning his minutes every single night. It’s pretty clear uh that he is making impact. Also for me, um, you know, not just stat-wise too, but just how he played. Logan Stanover looked a lot more comfortable on the ice at that center position and just being able to play a lot more freely. Uh, not being worried so much about whatever it is that he’s worried about. And I don’t know what it is. I’m not in his head clearly. You know, he’s adjusting to the to the new spot, you know, where he’s at, but I think this might have been his most complete game, you know, outside this faceoff circle. you know, he’s he’s that’s still kind of the the work in progress to win some of those battles. And obviously, it depends on who he goes up against, but you know, for for Stanovven, you know, there’s no uh the it feels like it feels like he’s still climbing to the ceiling, and I think that’s the best compliment I can give him. Oh, absolutely. I mean, he’s he’s a young player, and he’s actually we’re still on the last year of his rookie contract as well, cuz that eight-year extension, I don’t believe, kicks in until next year. Um, but he’s adjusting well. He didn’t have the best night in the faceoff circle, but again in a in a five to one win, are we really going to nitpick the little things like that? No, not really. Especially when he had two assists, including setting up uh Gossipus Bear on a infinite space on that goal, just giving him a high quality chance. And uh I’m not sure it necessarily mattered that much because I don’t think Nadulkovich really had his best game in net for the Sharks. No, he was not good. Like the Jackson Blake goal, it wasn’t at There was good puck movement on that, but like I feel like most goalies would probably want to have that one back. Uh it was four to one at that point. There’s really not anybody that was that was bad. And uh I I follow these um hockey stat cards on uh on Twitter. I guess it’s X now. Uh and it’s like a it’s like a bar chart and like if it goes to the left it was like negative contributions and if they go out to the right they’re positive. And basically every single the player that played for the Canes last night is a big contribution on the positive on the right side uh analytically and the the one that was kind of like middling is ironically is Jordan Stall which you know he was out there for a long time early in the game but I don’t I don’t think he necessarily did anything bad either. So uh and we were talking about Nikeshian. He’s one of the top him Stanovven and Goss bear the three best contributors according to the analytics. Um and but it doesn’t take stats or analytics to show that they’ve been really really good in these first three games. Um that Goss Bear and Nikeshian pairing with Goss Bear playing on his offside I think is working out even better than Rod Bindmore or anyone really could have hoped so far. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Plenty of ice time to go around. Again, we’re waiting on the we’re waiting on the uh the break the ice moment for Nick Eers. Eers keeps firing away. There’s no doubt about it. He’s not a negative out there. He’s he’s he’s cranking it out. He just can’t find it. That the the goal must look incredibly small to Eers right now. Just not being able to to cash one in. And I think the same thing for too, Andre Fetchnikov. Just, you know, not finding the not finding the opportunities I think more for him than anything else. but you know just unable to cash in on goals. But if you’re getting five from everywhere else and Rod Bindmore is happy with getting contributions everywhere else, their time will come eventually. Yeah. And uh at some point it was either in the second or third period they flipped and Taylor Hall uh on their line. So they had playing with Jenowsky and Eric Robinson and Hall got bumped up to play with Stankovven and Blake. And uh that might be more of a testament just to how well Taylor Hall has played so far is that they wanted to get him some more looks with that line. And Spetchnikov actually looked like he kind of locked in a little bit more once they flipped that as well. He looked a little better once he was playing with the new linemates. Uh hopefully it’ll come. Um Svetchnikov and Eers being the only two forwards who have played all three games and not had a point. I don’t think anyone would have anticipated that at the start of the year. Um but they they will get there. Eers has fit in well uh especially with his line and on the power play. He’s kind of added a little bit of juice to it. It’s kind of hard to describe because they haven’t scored a ton on the power play, but it feels like they’re moving the puck a little bit more and it feels like they’re moving their feet a little more. It looks more active. Uh so hopefully he’ll get on the score sheet. But uh you know there was all smiles. I remember I saw him specifically there’s a shot of them on the bench towards the end of the game and he was smiling and looked like he was having you know the time of his life. So I think as long as the team is successful and and and they’re winning I don’t think he minds necessarily not being on the score sheet and he knows that the the points will come. So Busy steps in for uh give a little bit of a relief to Anderson. Busy does well. Feels like that’s another one of those moments where you’re like, “Okay, well, maybe it’s okay if Kaden Primo got picked up on on waiverss.” And we got Brandon Busy because he made a very solid debut. Mike Riley, a good pickup as well, had to play again in favor of Jacob Slavven. Slavven dealing with a lower body injury. Not sure when he’s coming back. And then Mark Janowski steps into the lineup for the first time this season and he replaces Yesp Kok and Y. This was a healthy scratch moment. This was by choice to get Janowski in there. And I’m unclear of if it’s just a confidence issue. Maybe it was just Janowsky’s turn or whatnot, but you got a very good night in the faceoff circle from Janowski. We know he can do that uh that business. The joke at least beyond the circles. Jen Jen Gretzky Gret Gretkowski Mark Jen Gretzky uh just basically how he plays out there. Jordan Martin Hook is Wayne Gretzky as at as of the uh the Devil series in 2024 where he became Wayne Gretzky the uh the sliding uh yeah that’ll be an interesting thing to watch here as we get rolling through the trip again. Day off today for the Hurricanes uh because they played earlier today. Tomorrow, uh, they will be in Anaheim and then over the weekend, uh, they’ll have a trip into Las Vegas for a while. So, a good start to the state fair road trip for your Canes. 5 to one the final. Again, only two, in case you missed the little nugget, only two NHL teams with all wins and no losses and no losses in overtime as well. The Dallas Stars and the Carolina Hurricanes. If you need more, Kane’s Corner from Adam Gold has been posted on our YouTube page as well as if you already like and subscribed to the podcast, it’s available to you right now cuz Adam stayed up late too. He stayed up late so you did not have to. 5-1 Canes, good start over San Jose. By the way, Demetri Orof last night for those of you wondering, played 23 minutes. 23. That is a lot of ice time. Um, I did want to make one note before we move on. Um, Brandon Busy is a uh right glove full, it’s a they call it a full right goalender when you have the glove on the right side and the blocker on the left side. It’s actually pretty rare in the NHL these days. Uh, both the Capitals goalies uh catch with the right hand. Carol Vilka in Utah and then um the only other like kind of full-time NHL goalie is uh Yos Lavascara on the Sharks, but he is still kind of young and and upand coming. So, Brandon Busy, it’s kind of a it’s kind of a rarity these days to see uh right glove and goalies, full right goalies. So, shout out to him. You know what a rarity is too? I forgot Ryan Reeves played for San Jose. I totally forgot Revo was still huffing it. That’s an interesting fit. He still I mean he played, you know, played a bunch of minutes, had I think he took like one shot. I all I remember of seeing of him was uh Nikesian was kind of coming back into the Kane zone to kind of restart the rush and and Reeves was there and Nikeshian just kind of shouldered him off and just skated right past him, blew past him. Ryan Reeves hadn’t had speed, I don’t know, since maybe juniors. Uh he he’s I love Revo, by the way. He’s a good dude that comes with that rep. um having having a a hot minute to get to know him back in the day when I covered Las Vegas. Uh good dude. He has a beer app named after by the way like Martin Nook. Martin Nuke’s got that beer too. Revo’s got a beer. Matter of fact, I think he still owns a brewery in Las Vegas. So it’s called Revo 5 when he wore the number five there or something. Something I Whatever doesn’t matter. I’m not drinking that beer. I’m not drinking that swill. Storm brew only. There you go. I love me a storm brew. Oh goodness. Can you bring it back to Costco, please? Like, I would buy cases of that stuff at Costco when it was there, and it disappeared like a month or so ago. I still have a bunch in my fridge. I mean, I still buy, don’t get me wrong, but God, good storm brew, man. It’s only 9:15. I’m thinking about drinks. [Music] I’m Max Goran with three things you need to know right now from 999 the fan. Carolina Hurricanes started off their six-game state fair road trip with a bang last night defeating the San Jose Sharks 5 to1. 13 different players recorded a point for the Canes and goalender Brandon Busy saved 16 out of 17 shots to earn the win in his NHL debut. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, allowing just three hits and striking out seven as the LA Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5 to1 last night in game two of the NLCS. Jackson Turio’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning earned the only run for Milwaukee, which now trails two games to none as the series shifts west to Dodger Stadium. After a tough 36 to7 loss in South Bend to Notre Dame, NC State football has a bye-week before heading up to Pittsburgh. Hear about the Wolfpack’s by-week plans and prep for the home stretch from head coach Dave Doran on Wolfpack Weekly tonight at 7 on 999 the Fan. Find these stories and more on wlportsfan.com and the 999thean app. Our YouTube congratulations to all of you who have subscribed. We now have 20,000 subscribers to our 999 the fan YouTube channel. Congratulations to you and a little pat on the back and bottom for us as well. Uh, look for an announcement coming soon about the milestone that we just hit because it will involve giving you something and it’s pretty cool cuz I know what it is cuz I picked it out and it’s pretty cool. So again, subscribe, like, subscribe our YouTube channel. You can find this show there as well as all the other shows here on the station plus uh you know Adam Gold obviously Tim Donnelly and Pack Therapy, Panthers Playbook, Kane’s Corner. It’s all there 999 The Fan YouTube as well as through our brand new 99 the fan app for Apple iPhone and Androids through the Google Play Store. The Carolina Panthers find themselves in the middle of normal. Is that strange to say Panthers fans? Three and three on the season rolling into a roadie against the New York Jets. Not that you know you’re excited about a road trip because they haven’t gone very well for your Panthers this season, but you feel a little bit more comfortable. And you look at the idea, and I say normal in the nicest way possible. They made a move yesterday, released a a defensive back, doesn’t really matter. So, they left a roster spot open in which Jaylen Coker could take that spot. Jaylen Coker, who’s uh back on the practice field, able to practice last week, could be returning to give the receiving core yet another boost. as we’ve seen Xavier Lee get turn things around in a minor way, not not explosively. Ted McMillan finally got his two touchdowns. So, the Panthers, as I’d like to say, are back to normal where we’re not too concerned. I mean, there’s concerns obviously. It’s like, you know, we got we still give up a few too many yards in the air for sure. Offensively, we’re more about a game management team and we got to figure out what to do. I say the Panthers say we, I’m not out there. The Panthers have to figure out what to do with a returning Chuba Hubard when he’s able to come back. But we aren’t dealing with the random things that you would normally kind of go, “Oh, must be the Panthers.” So, if you didn’t see the news out of Indianapolis, they’re auditioning quarterbacks. Indianapolis is auditioning quarterbacks because Anthony Richardson, the backup to Daniel Jones, by the way, who had a little bit of a resurgence in Minnesota and got outcast in New York and all of a sudden is probably going to play himself into one of them Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Gino Smith contracts in the offseason. Anthony Richardson in pregame warm-ups smashed his eye while doing a stretching exercise with a workout ball and fractured his orbital bone. So, they brought in the who’s who of veteran quarterbacks. I’m like Kyle Tras type quarterbacks. They’re looking for a quarterback in Indianapolis because of a pregame workout regimen. See, that’s the kind of stuff you’d be like, “Huh, I wonder wonder if that’s the Carolina Panthers.” Like, but it’s not. And that’s the strange part about being kind of on this side of normal where your offense is like 2021. Your defense is kind of in the middle of the NFL, but no one looks at you funny anymore. No one looks at you like, “Ah, that’s the gimme game. That’s the gimme game.” And you’re now considered in some circles the trap game. and other circles, you’re actually the favorite, which is crazy because the Carolina Panthers have not been favorites at all this entire season. Not in one single game have they been shown to be a favorite when it comes to a weekly bet from Vegas until this week. Minus one and a half. One and a half against the Jets. Now, didn’t open that way. It did not. It did not. But it is swung because everyone’s like, “Wait a second. Now, the Panthers are normal. They’re a normal team with normal issues where you kind of go, “Okay, they’re three and three. They don’t have that crazy. They don’t have the dis the We went through this bit last year, which made me kind of think about this whole little segment that we’re talking about here that right now in New York with the Jets, not the Giants. Giants already made their choice, but this could also apply to them. And the Giants are the lesser of the two talked about teams in New York because of onfield play. As we go into this Jets game, the thought is, at least in terms of Aaron Glenn, who is an incredibly loyal coach from all indications, is going to stick with Justin Fields to quarterback this Jets team as opposed to the debate that is actually happening right now that they should cash out on Justin Fields and cash in on Tyrod Taylor. That is the hot button issue right now for the New York Jets. I mean, they’ve got some other things going on. That’s pretty clear. But the thought is is like, well, we need to pair up somebody with this pseudo running attack that we have with a couple of good receivers that we may or may not have that we hope we don’t have to deal with. And really like they’re stealing that they’re stealing the headlines with Nick Mangold who needs a new kidney as opposed to the onfield play with the New York Jets who are deciding amongst themselves whether Tyrod Taylor would be a better option than Justin Field six games into the season. I don’t disagree, but I’m like if that is the fail safe that’s going to push you over the edge here to catch the Miami Dolphins at the bottom of the AFC East. Wow. Does it feel comfortable now to be a Panthers fan? Yeah, I mean it’s it’s time to talk about the possibility that the Panthers are not a bad team. Like they might just be like a mid team or maybe even a little bit good if they can continue the way they’ve been playing the last couple weeks. Now that a lot of that probably has been dependent on the quality of opponent and that does not appear to be improving this week playing at the Jets. But, uh, it could be a big momentum swing to actually have a chance to win a road game when they play at the Jets. They need a road win, who have not won a game this year. Let’s let’s keep that in mind. The Jets have not won yet. Uh, and I’m sure the Panthers do not want to be the team that gives the Jets their first win, especially with the way they played last week in in London. And you got to figure there’ll be some kind of jet lag hangover or something. I mean, they had net negative passing yards last week. Yeah. Minus 10. That’s a far cry. Say what you will, even if you’re not convinced that the Panthers have have made that much progress or they’ve played bad defenses or whatever. You know, Rico Doubt’s run for darn near he did run for 200 yards two weeks ago and then he ran for 180 something and had 239 from scrimmage last week. That’s dramatically more yards than the entire New York Jets ha offense had the entire game last week. So yeah, I mean they’re kind of getting into the the real team like there’s not a bunch of goofy stuff going on. It’s not the same issues that have been facing them. The things that they needed to address, the Panthers have addressed. The trenches have improved. The offensive line has been good. They’ve only allowed 50 rush yards over the last two games combined. Uh we’ll see if they keep that up against uh against Bree Hall here on Sunday, but the Panthers are really coming up that you’re starting to see the progress of the build with Dan Morgan and Dave Canales. They just need some pass rushing, Max. God, everybody everybody has one sack. That’s the biggest thing that they’re missing. But they they they’ve done well to shore up basically every other area. They’re getting into the runheavy game that they’ve wanted to establish from the beginning of the year and weren’t able to because they fell behind so early in the first couple of games. Um, yeah, they’re becoming such a a valid NFL team. It it looks professional, which you couldn’t really say over the last handful of years. Uh, so let’s continue that against the Jets who are looking anything but professional and anything but successful. And maybe they will. Maybe the debate with their starting quarterback is who’s going to lose us more games so we can get a higher pick next year. I’m sure the Jets fans are are very tired of that being the conversation every year. Are we going to get a quarterback in the draft again? But wow. You know, that’s and there’s questions about the coach, too. I know they got a first year coach and Aaron Glenn, but I know I’ve seen some people are are fairly dissatisfied with the way they’ve managed the clock and other things as well. Culture is fine. It’s the preparation that lacks. There’s no doubt about it. Uh third next third of the season underway. Panthers three and three, taking on the Jets on
Paul Ihander & Max Goren recap the Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-1 win over the San Jose Sharks to kick off their six-game state fair road trip. It was a complete team performance, with 13 different Canes recording a point and goaltender Brandon Bussi looking sharp in his NHL debut. Also, they discuss the Carolina Panthers’ standing in the NFL, as other teams struggle with wacky injuries and disappointing results.
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