Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta skated Thursday, but Game 3 status still up in the air
Antti Raanta returned to the ice Thursday afternoon for a brief off-day skating session before the Carolina Hurricanes flew out to Boston ahead of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, working with goaltending coach Paul Shonfelder away from the rest of the players who were skating.
That was the good news.
What isn’t immediately clear is whether Raanta — who was forced to leave Game 2 Wednesday after a collision with Bruins forward David Pastrnak — will be available for Game 3.
“We put him on the ice today, that’s a good sign,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s still not 100 percent, so I’m not sure where we’ll be tomorrow, but hopefully he’ll be OK.”
Less than 10 minutes into the first period Wednesday, Raanta played the puck to his left, and Pastrnak shifted to avoid the clearing attempt. In doing so, he lunged his arms forward and clipped Raanta in the helmet, twisting it — and Raanta’s head — hard to the left. The Canes’ goalie crumbled to the ice. Pastrnak was initially assessed a five-minute penalty, but upon video review was ultimately given a 2-minute minor.
Raanta, meanwhile, left the ice pretty quickly, under his own power. He was bleeding from the mouth.
“He got a little cut, but something else was bothering him,” Brind’Amour said. “At least he was out there today.”
The coach did not elaborate on what “something else” might be, but he reiterated that there was no chance he was going to return to the game.
“That was easy,” Brind’Amour said. “He took his stuff off.”
In came Pyotr Kochetkov. All the young Russian netminder did was stop 30 of the 32 shots he saw to preserve the win for the Canes, a 5-2 victory that gave Carolina a 2-0 series lead after a pair of home games.
Brind’Amour said Thursday the team didn’t try to play any differently in front of Kochetkov than they had for Raanta, reiterating the team’s trust in a keeper who’s played in four NHL games, and started only two of those.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in there, if you’re not playing well in front of the goalie, it’s going to be tough. Regardless of who’s in the net, the guys, they have a job to do: Try to limit as many scoring opportunities as you can. On the flip side of it, it’s nice to know that we’ve seen this kid in action, and he’s held up well. The guys have a lot of faith in him.”
Staal echoed his coach’s words.
“I think he’s looked really good,” Staal said. “Since the first time he got in the net, he’s looked really good. The guys feel comfortable with him. He’s looked good in practice, the guys have had a hard time finding the net with him. He battles hard. He works hard like everyone else in our room.”
As for that “other” Hurricanes goalie, Frederik Andersen – the team’s top netminder all season – still hasn’t skated since his injury on April 16.
“I haven’t even seen him today, he’s definitely getting closer,” Brind’Amour said. “But until he gets to the ice, there’s really no update.”
Kochetkov holds his own; Marchand fined
Brind’Amour wasn’t exactly pleased that Kochetkov got into a stick-swinging contest with noted Bruins pest Brad Marchand, noting that he needed his keeper to stop pucks and stay healthy. But, he said, “boys will be boys.”
One boy had to pay a little deeper for the altercation.
Thursday, the NHL announced that Marchand has been fined $5,000 for slashing Kochetkov after the two exchanged shoves, and the Marchand slashed at Kochetkov’s midsection as officials came in to break things up. That happened at 17:52 of the second period. Marchand was assessed a minor penalty for slashing on the play.
Also fined Thursday by the NHL was Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort, who was also asked to pay $5,000 for high-sticking Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen at 2:53 of the third period, while killing a power play. Forbort was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking.
Matching up
The Hurricanes held serve in Games 1 and 2 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, scoring five goals in each of the games to take what appears to be a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Not so fast.
The Hurricanes are a better team at home, the statistics bear that out. But so are the Bruins. And for all of Boston’s scoring woes against Carolina this season (the count is up to 26-4 in favor of the Canes), a home playoff crowd can provide a mental boost.
It also helps to have the final change before faceoffs as the home team.
The Canes played the matchups they wanted for the first two games, sending Jordan Staal’s line over the boards to combat Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk (and Pastrnak, when Bruins’s coach Bruce Cassidy made the swap).
They won’t have that choice in Games 3 and 4. But does that matter?
“It definitely can be a big advantage or disadvantage, depending on how you’re looking at it,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ll make that adjustment if we need to. But again, when you get to this point of the season, most teams are pretty deep. Matchups are a big part of it, but you trust your guys.”
Hostile environment
The other nice part of playing at home is feeding off the energy from the home fans. The Canes often bill PNC as the “loudest house in the NHL.”
The Garden in Boston isn;t much quieter, and will certainly not be as friendly toward the Hurricanes.
“They have a good team, and in that building, it’s going to be a tough matchup,” Staal said. “We’ve so far done our business at home, but at some point you have to win on the road. It’s going to be a different feel, but our gane can’t change from most of Game 1 and all of Game 2. I thought our game was good, and if we play that way consistently, we’ll come out on the better side of the end result.”
Grinding out the offense
Known primarily as one of the better checking lines in the NHL, Staal and wingers Jesper Fast and Nino Niederreiter were a big part of the offense in Game 2, as well.
“Our line’s been pretty solid, especially the second half of the season, creating offense,” Staal said. “I have two wingers who know how to put the puck in the net and are willing to work and help create offensive chances. We focus on that and playing against some of the best players in the world. We want to play in their end, create as many offensive chances as we can.”
Niederreiter had two goals in Game 2, including one on a power play, and another on a perfect crossing feed.
“We try to do the grinding stuff, “but we have those two guys who have some skill, and when the time is right, where there are opportunities, we try to take them.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
