LAS VEGAS — Sports can be so wickedly mean sometimes.Imagine being a relief pitcher, coming in with the bases loaded and no outs, somehow escaping the jam, then hurling several scoreless innings — only to lose on a nothing infield dribbler.That’s what happened to Brandon Bussi on Saturday night.The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender was handed a hopeless assignment and nearly turned it into one of the most legendary relief appearances in Stanley Cup Final history.After not playing for 53 days, the 27-year-old rookie was thrown into Game 3 of the Final with his team staring at a 4-0 deficit to the Vegas Golden Knights. He could have simply mopped up the final period of the game and dragged Carolina into two much-needed off days.Instead, he slammed the door shut on Vegas. Save after save, the 27-year-old gave his teammates room to claw back, and somehow a game that looked dead before the second intermission was still alive one regulation period and one-plus overtimes later.Bussi stopped what would have been Mitch Marner’s fourth goal of the game, and a potential 5-0 deficit, on a penalty shot. And after stopping all nine shots he faced in the third period, he stopped seven more in the first overtime, including robbing William Karlsson with 41 seconds left and keeping out a dangerous deflection toward his own net from Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.In all, he stopped 18 of 19 shots in relief of Freddie Andersen, who was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 second-period shots.Yet, despite surviving all that literal and figurative pressure, Bussi and the Hurricanes’ night ended on the cruelest kind of hockey goal — a fluky bounce that ended a classic, epic playoff game in lame fashion and a 5-4 loss.“Kind of felt like it was going to be a greasy one,” Bussi said. “Unfortunately, it was in our net.”A little more than 5 1/2 minutes into Period 5, Shea Theodore’s one-timer sailed wide of the net, hit the dasher, skipped back toward the crease, eluded Jordan Martinook’s stick and ricocheted into the net off Bussi.Game over, with Vegas taking a 2-1 series lead despite Carolina’s four-goal third-period comeback.“Shot from the point. I saw it all the way,” Bussi said after his first game since April 14. “It hit the yellow and shot out a lot quicker than I thought, so I guess I kicked it in. It stinks. It’s not what we wanted. We felt like we had our chances in overtime, but to win the Stanley Cup, it’s hard. We put this one behind us.”Bussi’s .947 save percentage was the fourth-best mark in a relief performance in Stanley Cup Final history among goalies who made at least 14 saves, per NHL stats. Understandably, in most cases in which a starting goalie leaves a game, the result is not a win. Here are the top 10 such appearances:PlayerYearSV-SASv%W/LHank Bassen, Red Wings196120-201.000LRoger Crozier, Sabres197526-27.963WCalvin Pickard, Oilers202522-23.957WBrandon Bussi, Hurricanes202618-19.947LCory Schneider, Canucks201130-32.938LHank Bassen, Red Wings196628-30.933LBrian Hayward, North Stars199116-18.889LDon Simmons, Maple Leafs196218-21.857LAnthony Stolarz, Panthers202416-19.842LDominik Hasek, Blackhawks199221-25.840LThe biggest question now, besides how Carolina will recover from such a heartbreaking loss, is whether coach Rod Brind’Amour and staff will come back with Bussi in Game 4 or give Andersen a reprieve.