The Hurricanes squeak out a tight win against the Flames behind Bussi's first shutout

The Carolina Hurricanes kept their homestand rolling on Sunday night, concluding their holiday weekend and their November schedule with a visit from the Calgary Flames. The group evened their record on the homestand with a dominant 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night, backed by a hat trick from Seth Jarvis against his hometown team.

For the first time in his NHL career, Brandon Bussi earned the opportunity to make back-to-back starts after an excellent showing against the Jets. The Canes also welcomed Jordan Staal back to the lineup after missing three games with an illness. The Flames countered with Devin Cooley in the net for their fourth stop of a five-game road trip.

Neither team found the back of the net during the first period, with neither goalie being heavily taxed. The Canes got the better of the chances. Alexander Nikishin wove through the defense and nearly scored. Bussi only faced three shots, but they were all good opportunities for the Flames, who didn't make life easy for the Canes throughout the opening 20 minutes.

The longer the second period ran, the more it felt like things were opening up. The Flames failed to capitalize on two breakaways, with Matt Coronato hitting the iron. The Canes had plenty of their own opportunities that they failed to get past Cooley. While the shot numbers through two periods were low, many of them were quality chances.

After 60 minutes, the deadlock persisted as neither Bussi nor Cooley flinched. Bussi was the busier of the two netminders to start the third, making stops on Frost and Coronato on odd-man chances. In the final minute of regulation, Cooley stoned Jordan Martinook in front of the net to ensure each team earned a point.

The Hurricanes controlled overtime, and it would be the home team that would finish it. Taylor Hall put a perfect pass on Nikolaj Ehlers' stick. Fighting off Nazem Kadri, Ehlers powered it past Cooley to score the first goal of the night and earn the second point.

Brandon Bussi should be the #1 for now

I dare you to find a player having a better weekend than Brandon Bussi. After a stellar, albeit low-event, performance against the Jets on Friday, Bussi earned every opportunity to make consecutive starts for the first time. With the Canes showing faith in him once again, Bussi repaid them with the first shutout of his NHL career.

The Flames had a clear game plan to fly the zone and create as many breakaways and odd-man chances as they could. To their credit, they got quite a few. Bussi was a brick wall to prevent them from capitalizing on those chances. He has earned even more ice time after this performance. I wouldn't be surprised to see him face the Maple Leafs on Thursday.

The Canes almost refused to shoot the puck tonight

Someone online asked what the fewest shots the Canes have had in a game over the last five seasons was. The answer was 18, which they've done twice. Ironically, they earned three of four possible points in those games. After tonight's performance, we'll have to adjust that number, with the team only throwing 17 shots at the net against the Flames.

Throughout the night, it appeared that the Canes were passing up way too many scoring chances. The power play only worked once tonight, but it generated nothing as they passed the puck nonstop. They didn't record more than six shots in a period, topping out at six in the first. It wasn't your typical Hurricanes game, though we'll gladly take the two points.

Additional Thoughts

Getting Jordan Staal back into the lineup for the Hurricanes was massive, and it nearly paid off with the winner late in regulation. On an evening that didn't feature a ton of dangerous scoring chances, Staal had a nice flurry of opportunities in the second period before nearly finding Jordan Martinook with 57 seconds remaining.

While scoring your first goal with your new team might be bigger in the grand scheme of the season, this felt like Nikolaj Ehlers' official "Welcome to Carolina" moment. The team could ill-afford to see the second point slip through their fingers, so Ehlers's earning a clutch moment like this feels incredible. He was patient while entering the zone before outworking Kadri to get his stick loose.

Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes' homestand continues on Thursday night after a three-day break to begin December. Their battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs starts a stretch of three games in four days, culminating in a weekend back-to-back against Nashville and San Jose. Their stay in Raleigh concludes against the Columbus Blue Jackets next Tuesday night.