Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers scores on Flames goaltender Devin Cooleyfor the overtime winning goal in Carolina’s 1-0 win Sunday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker / AP Photo)

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes had to wait for their chances against the defensive-minded Calgary Flames on Sunday at Lenovo Center.

But they didn’t have to be as patient as Brandon Bussi has been to get his first career NHL shutout.

Neither the Flames nor the Hurricanes scored in regulation, but when Nikolaj Ehlers finished off a 2-on-1 rush with Taylor Hall to win the game 2:52 into overtime, Bussi — 1,324 days after he made his professional debut in the AHL — left the ice without allowing a goal in Carolina’s 1-0 win.

“These are games that are fun for goalies,” Bussi said. “It’s a really good battle. You don’t know what’s going to be that moment to change the tide, and fortunately, we got it.”

It wasn’t a busy night for Bussi, who made 15 saves to counterpart Devin Cooley’s 16, but the win did improve him to 7-1-0 since Carolina claimed him off waivers from Boston on Oct. 5.

“He’s been great for us,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Bussi, who was making a second consecutive start for the first time since joining the Hurricanes. “I think he’s come up with the timely save.

“That’s kind of, for me, how I sum it up because it’s not like you’ve been leaving him out to dry and we’re giving up 40 shots a night. It’s not really that, but there’s a breakaway here or there all of a sudden. Those are huge moments in tight games.”

While it will be a lifetime moment for Bussi, most who watched the game won’t have fond memories of what could best be described as a slog induced by Calgary’s trapping posture.

The first period had as many icings as shots on goal, nine apiece, and the following 40 minutes weren’t much more exciting.

The two teams totaled just 32 shots — an amount the Hurricanes have matched or exceeded on their own in 15 of their previous 24 games this year.

But on Sunday, the Flames collapsed in their own zone and hoped to goad the Hurricanes into getting impatient and making a mistake.

“Before the game they put up their analytics, and you could tell that they play some low-event hockey, and they play a defensive style,” Hall said. “And they’re good at checking — there wasn’t a lot of room in the O zone tonight.”

Carolina did get caught a few times trying to do too much, but the Flames misfired on a couple of odd-man rushes. When their chances were on the mark, Bussi was there to snuff it out.

“Every game you can almost say the same story,” Brind’Amour said of Bussi. “It’s like, timely save, allow us to have a chance. And that’s what you ask from him.”

The wide-open ice of overtime finally gave the Hurricanes a chance to create some space, and Hall and Ehlers used their speed to play catch while entering the Calgary zone. Hall fended off Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson and curled a pass across the crease to Ehlers, who beat Nazem Kadri to the far post for his fifth goal of the season and third game winner of the season.

“We were both coming with a lot of speed,” Ehlers said. “He wanted it on the outside, and then my thought was just going to the net and give him the option. It’s a great play by (Hall).”

Hall and Ehlers have played together just 7:22 this season, but Carolina has scored three goals in that short span — all at even strength — and now have a moment of their own together.

“(Ehlers) and I don’t get out a lot together,” Hall said. “And in practice, we don’t get to do very many drills together because we’re always working as a line. So it’s funny when you get out there with a guy like him that’s fast and elusive.”

As for Bussi, his elusive first NHL shutout is another box he can check off in his miraculous turn with the Hurricanes.

“Anytime you hear your name being chanted by the crowd, it’s really cool,” Bussi said. “But the most important thing is kind of what’s going on in this room and stuff, and how we’re playing night in and night out.

“So obviously I appreciate it, so I don’t want to understate that — it is cool. But you know, the most important thing is kind of what we’re doing here and trying to keep it going.”

Notes: Jesperi Kotkaniemi missed his eighth straight game with an ankle injury. … The Hurricanes’ 17 shots on goal are their fewest since they had 16 in a 5-0 loss on Oct. 23, 2014, at Calgary. The last time they had fewer in a win was 16 SOG in a 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Jan. 23, 2012.