Rantanen, Hall make Hurricanes debuts, but Carolina loses in overtime to the Islanders
Fewer than 24 hours after learning they were changing teams, Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall looked every bit the part of Carolina Hurricanes.
With crisp, red pant shells over their pads, shiny red helmets and less-than-broken-in red and black gloves accenting their new bright white road jerseys, the newest Canes circled the ice during warmups with their new teammates. They took their places with their new linemates on the visitors’ bench at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York — Rantanen alongside Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake, Hall alongside Juha Jaaska and Jack Roslovic.
At least, that’s how they started the night.
They also learned quickly that “lines” are a construct for the Hurricanes, that players are called upon situationally as much as they are in any particular order. Power plays, penalty kills, sluggish play — coach Rod Brind’Amour’s hunches — all have a way of juggling the combinations.
And there was all of that Saturday as the Hurricanes earned a point but fell in overtime, 3-2, to the New York Islanders. The newcomers contributed, though, particularly in the third period as the Canes put relentless pressure on the Islanders attempting to break a 2-2 tie.
After working through the first period trying to develop chemistry with his new linemates, Rantanen appeared to find some cohesion with Aho and Blake. He finished the night with five shots on goal and was a plus-1 in 18:54 of ice time. He nearly had a goal in the first period, but a pass across from Aho deflected into the net. Still a goal, but not for the new guy. He also hit the post in the second.
Rantanen was also on the ice for the first shift of overtime, occupying Martin Necas’ former slot alongside Aho in the three-man formation.
He was not on the ice when Brock Nelson ended the game at 2:03 of the extra session on a wrist shot from the right circle.
Hall had less ice time (11:36), but was a key contributor on the second power play unit and had several chances with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone, particularly in the third period.
Hurricanes off to quick start
Wearing a new number after ceding his No. 96 to Rantanen, Roslovic, now No. 98, kept doing what he’s done best this season for the Canes: scoring goals. His 18th of the season at 5:18 of the first period opened the scoring and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead to protect.
Rantanen nearly scored his first in a Hurricanes uniform 1:12 later. Aho tried to feather a pass through traffic to a wide-open Rantanen, but the puck redirected into the net to make it 2-0.
The Islanders got on the board later in the first when an Alexander Romanov shot glanced off defender Sean Walker’s knee and past Hurricanes keeper Pyotr Kochetkov to cut the Canes’ lead in half at 2-1.
In the second, Rantanen again came close to scoring in his Canes debut, this time hitting the post from the left side of the zone. The puck bounced off the iron and off the back of Islanders goalie Marcus Hogberg before being shoveled under the keeper by defender Adam Pelech.
Hall also got involved more in the second period, firing a pair of seam passes for scoring chances in front, including one on a power play chance.
Kochetkov was also far busier in the latter half of the second period as the Islanders peppered the Hurricanes’ keeper with a handful of shots from in close. With a mix of aggression — poke checks and helmet saves included — and calm, directed saves to the corners, the Russian kept the home team off the board in the middle frame.
After a questionable call to place the faceoff in the Canes’ defensive zone that had Brind’Amour fuming, the Islanders struck for the equalizer at 6:26 of the third period when Anders Lee outmuscled Jaccob Slavin — a rarity — and poked the puck over Kochetkov after the keeper left a juicy rebound at the right side of the cage.
Despite a strong third-period push, Carolina couldn’t find a winner in regulation.
