Hurricanes 7-0 after beating Chicago Blackhawks in Antti Raanta’s first start in net

Make it seven in a row.

The undefeated Carolina Hurricanes overwhelmed the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Friday, getting points from 12 players in the lineup and making goalie Antti Raanta’s first start of the season a winning one.

The Canes set a franchise record on Thursday, beating the Boston Bruins for a 6-0 start to the season. A night later, they twice trailed in the first period before putting on a withering display of speed, skill and finish.

Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each scored, both extending their point streaks to seven games. Derek Stepan’s goal was the veteran center’s first point with the Hurricanes. Jordan Staal scored. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored. For the Canes, it was impressive.

Defenseman Tony DeAngelo scored for the second straight night and had two assists, then won a gloves-off fight with Reese Johnson in the third period. His “Gordie Howe hat trick” — goal, assist, fight in a game — was the first for Carolina since Brandon Sutter’s in 2012 and had Canes fans in the crowd of 16,434 loudly chanting his name.

“Points are great and obviously something I’ve got to bring to the team but we’re just playing really good hockey and finding ways,” DeAngelo, named the game’s first star, said to the media. “To be down twice in the first period and come out (leading) 4-2 just shows the kind of team we have. We’re deep.

“We can’t get too confident. Obviously it’s a great start for us but we’ve got to keep getting better.”

One downer for the Canes was forward Nino Niederreiter leaving the game in the third period with a lower-body injury. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Niederreiter, off to a good start this season, could be “out for a while.”

Raanta had a great seat and view on the Canes bench the first six games as goalie Frederik Andersen started and sparkled. Finally getting his turn, Raanta settled in, made 23 saves and was steady enough against a team seeking its first win of the season.

Chicago (0-6-2) twice scored on the power play — Adam Gaudette and Alex DeBrincat with the goals — after Brandon Hagel punched a shot past Raanta for the game’s first goal.

“These games are tough because you have to turn around and do it again and not have a letdown,” Brind’Amour said to the media after the Boston game. “We haven’t had a real ‘take-a-breath’ kind of (game) yet, which is a good sign.”

Brind’Amour wasn’t all that happy with the first 10 minutes Friday. But the Canes’ transition game produced chances and goals and it was 6-2 after the second period. The Canes had five of their 10 penalties in the third as the game turned chippy and, in Brind’Amour’s opinion, “dissipated.”

“But we had done enough damage to get ahead,” he said.

The Blackhawks’ first-period leads quickly evaporated. The Canes needed 58 seconds to answer Hagel’s score with a transition goal from DeAngelo off a pass from Vincent Trocheck, who had two assists.

Gaudette gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with a backhander. The Canes’ answer: two goals in 17 seconds.

“That’s what we have, the ability to counter quickly,” Brind’Amour said.

Staal, open at the backdoor post, took a pass from Ethan Bear for 2-2 tie. Stepan then made a nice move to beat goalie Kevin Lankinen at the short side post.

The Canes’ fourth goal of the period left Kotkaniemi and Aho hugging behind the net. Aho slipped behind defenseman Jake McCabe in the neutral zone, took a pass off the boards from Ian Cole and found Kotkaniemi for the score — Cole’s assist his first point with the Canes.

In the second, Aho scored on the power play and Svechnikov picked up his seventh of the season with a pass that hit McCabe’s leg.

It’s hard to sit a goalie coming off a 33-save shutout, with a six-game winning streak. Andersen has a 1.33 goals-against average and .956 save percentage.. But as Brind’Amour said, “We’ve got to get ‘Raants’ involved.”

Raanta was the only lineup change from the Bruins game as rookie forward Seth Jarvis and veteran defenseman Brendan Smith were healthy scratches. With Niederreiter out, Jarvis could make his NHL debut Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes at PNC Arena.

This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 9:39 PM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.