Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi got his first start in the Stanley Cup Final during Game 4, and he made the most of it with some incredible saves. In the postgame interview, the Sound Beach, New York native was teary-eyed for a moment while acknowledging the support of his family in his journey to the big dance.

When Kyle Bukauskas of Sportsnet backstage showed Bussi some reactions of his family in the stands during Game 4, he had a huge smile on his face before getting emotional. Bussi’s father, Rob, and mother, Lisa, were in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with his fiancee Mary Raclawski, and her parents, to watch him play.

“Oh, that’s pretty special,” Bussi said in response to the clip while being teary eyed. “They're the reason I'm able to do what I'm doing right now. Their sacrifice means everything. And yeah, they're the best.”

At T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, June 9, the 27-year-old ended up on the winning side with a 5-3 score line in Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights, to level the Stanley Cup Final 2-2.

After that, Bukauskas asked Bussi about what it meant to have his family watch him play in person on such a big stage.

“Flying east coast to Vegas in one day, or this morning is a lot. It means a lot,” Bussi remarked. “I can’t believe you guys just did that to me and on TV. It’s special. That will be a memory I will have forever.”

Notably, Bussi had an impressive 31-6-2 record in the 2025-26 regular season with two shutouts, a .895 save percentage, and 2.47 goals conceded on average per game. Despite that, he had to wait until Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final to play for the first time in the postseason for the Hurricanes.

He had replaced primary goaltender Frederik Andersen at the start of the third period of Game 3, 4-0 down. In Las Vegas, Nevada, he kept the rampant Golden Knights at bay with 18 saves in a row.

But then, an unfortunate slip-up led to forward Shea Theodore’s goal, and the Hurricanes lost 5-4 at 14:22 remaining in the second overtime in Game 3.

What was Brandon Bussi’s contribution to Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-3 win in Game 4?

In Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi made 18 saves out of 21 attempts with a .857 save percentage. His family was in attendance at T-Mobile Arena when he denied Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone twice on the breakaway.

Bussi ultimately conceded a goal to Stone with 12:38 remaining in the first period, who made it 2-1 after the Canes had a flying start through Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake goals.

When Carolina went 3-1 up through their captain Jordan Staal, he was beaten twice by William Karlsson and Brett Howden for 3-3 in the second period.

The best of Bussi came through in the third period for the second game in a row, keeping the Golden Knights at bay in Game 4. He made nine saves while Staal and Nikolaj Ehlers scored at the other end in the third period to seal the 5-3 win for the Hurricanes.

Will Brandon Bussi continue his good run in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at home on Thursday, June 11? Tell us in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason