A day after Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith left Game 1 against the New York Rangers during overtime, another netminder has been injured. This time, it’s Carolina Hurricanes netminder Antti Raanta who left early in the first period in the second game of their opening-round series against the Boston Bruins. The Hurricanes announced he would not return and specified he suffered an upper-body injury.
The injury — which can be viewed in 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 goals-against average along with a .902 save percentage in his first three NHL appearances. Meanwhile, Jack LaFontaine is serving as Carolina’s emergency goaltender and will serve as the backup for the rest of the game if Raanta is 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.
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