A day after Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith left Game One against the Rangers during overtime, another netminder has been injured. This time, it’s Hurricanes netminder Antti Raanta who left early in the first period in the second game of their opening round series against the Bruins.
The injury – which can be viewed on a tweet from Carolina team reporter Walt Ruff – occurred on a hit from Boston winger David Pastrnak. It was initially ruled as a five-minute major but after review, it was overturned to a two-minute minor.
There’s never an ideal time for an injury but this one is particularly impactful for the Hurricanes as they remain without starter Frederik Andersen who is also injured. While the team hopes he’ll be able to play at some point in the first round, there is no firm timetable for his return.
This meant that Pyotr Kochetkov, who only made his NHL debut less than two weeks ago, was pressed into duty. He has a 2.42 GAA along with a .902 SV% in his first three NHL appearances. Meanwhile, Jack LaFontaine is serving as Carolina’s emergency goaltender and will be the backup for the rest of the game with Raanta unable to return. He was convinced to leave college midseason to turn pro and got into two games with Carolina plus 13 more with AHL Chicago.
To be fair to Raanta he lasted a game longer than most people thought before getting injured
Officials protecting big-city Boston. Should have stayed a 5:00 major. Pastrnak’s hand across Raanta’s face left him bloodied and caused him to leave the game and not return. Pastrnak rushed at Raanta, knew at all time where Raanta was, and should have avoided contact. Terrible call by the officials.
Pastarnak literally punched him in the head.
Instead of avoiding the contact…he punched him in the head.
PS-Cassidy is a moron. Starting Swayman over Ullmark was obvious before the series started, but OK…Cassidy got it wrong. Surely, he’ll learn from the blowout in Game 1. Nope.
Will he learn from the handy defeat in Game 2? And is it too late anyway.
Terrible coaching.
Cassidy should be fired as well as O’Connell. This team is in need of a major overhaul or it’s going to be mediocrity for a long, long time.
Is anybody really surprised that Raanta is hurt?
I was listening to The Sports Hub, when this happened live. Beers said Raanta “sold it”, and that Pasternak barely touched him. But, when they had to report the fluid leakage from Raanta, I yelled back at the interweb radio, “Where did the frikkin’ blood come from then, Beers, you MORON!” Too bad it didn’t make it back to his headset… I think “Raanta”, in Finnish, translates roughly to “perpetually gimped.”
King of commas
From the King of Comas?