Carolina Hurricanes face Game 4 goalie crossroads after Vegas’s double-overtime win

The Vegas Golden Knights’ 5-4 double-overtime win in Game 3 pushed the Stanley Cup Final back into the spotlight of Carolina’s biggest technical debate: who starts in net for Game 4. Vegas took a 2-1 series lead after a game that swung wildly, including a four-goal third-period collapse by the Knights and a late Carolina surge that forced overtime. The Hurricanes still found themselves chasing the puck when Shea Theodore’s shot eventually went in at 5:38 of the second overtime, handing Vegas the win and leaving Carolina to regroup quickly before Tuesday’s matchup.

Carolina’s staff now must decide between Frederik Andersen and Brandon Bussi with the series on the line. reported that the Hurricanes will wait until after practice on Monday to determine the Game 4 starter. Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena on ABC, SN, TVAS, and CBC, and Carolina heads there trailing Vegas 2-1 in the best-of-7.

That decision is rooted in what happened to Andersen in Game 3 and what changed once Bussi entered. Andersen was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots through two periods, setting up Bussi’s first Stanley Cup Final action. The switch did stabilize things enough to extend the game. Bussi, who entered at the start of the third period, made 18 saves on 19 shots, and he also stopped a short-handed penalty shot opportunity for Marner late in the third period that could have widened Vegas’s lead again.

Still, the ending complicates how Carolina can evaluate that replacement. Theodore’s double-overtime winner ultimately banked off the end boards and came into the net off Bussi’s skate, a finish that will naturally live in the memory of both teams. also pointed directly to the underlying statistical tension for Andersen entering Game 4, citing his Cup Final numbers as 4.44 goals-against average and.815 save percentage. The Hurricanes are therefore balancing two realities at once: Andersen’s track record in earlier playoff rounds and the more troubled recent stretches that Vegas has exposed.

Carolina’s goalie choice is not happening in a vacuum. The Hurricanes also carried an injury concern from Game 3, with reporting that William Carrier missed the final three periods after sustaining an upper-body injury, and that coach Rod Brind’Amour did not have an update on his status after the game. If Carolina is forced to adjust lineup roles around that uncertainty, it could change how defensive coverages are structured in front of whomever starts, which in turn affects how safe or risky the team can be with its goaltending decisions.

What to watch next is straightforward: which name appears on the morning of Game 4, and how quickly the chosen starter settles into the rhythm of Vegas’s pressure. If Andersen goes back in, Carolina is doing so with an acknowledgement that Vegas has already generated enough chaos to force at least one quick pivot mid-game. If Bussi starts instead, Carolina is committing to a goalie who already proved he can handle late-game shot volume and high-leverage moments, even if the final goal came off his skate.

For Carolina, the stakes of this choice are more than about one performance. With the series at 2-1 against them, Game 4 can reshape confidence for the rest of the Final, including how the Hurricanes respond to future swings or early scoring runs from Vegas. The winner of the net battle does not merely influence goals allowed, it influences the way the team trusts its structure when the game turns, and Game 3 showed just how quickly that trust gets tested.