Goaltender Antti Raanta notched his 100th career NHL win in style, anchoring the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Feb. 20. Raanta racked up 31 saves, including several key efforts to keep the Canes in front throughout the game.
Raanta was a stalwart in the crease for Carolina (34-11-4) for the full 60 minutes as the Penguins (31-13-8) tested him all afternoon. Although the Pens put three goals on the board, Raanta stepped up in big moments to keep the Penguins at bay, especially down the stretch.
Pittsburgh nearly staged a comeback in the back end of the game, pulling even at 2-2 going into the second intermission and turning the pressure up to 11 in the final minutes. However, Raanta stood tall in the final minutes by stonewalling Sidney Crosby as the final horn sounded to deny the game-tying goal.
The Hurricanes defense took care of business as well. Carolina and Pittsburgh boast the top two penalty kills in the NHL, but the Canes asserted their superiority in that category by holding the Pens to just one power play goal on four chances. Even that lone Pittsburgh PPG came with a caveat as Evan Rodrigues found the net in a 6-on-4 shift.
On the other hand, Carolina capitalized on a late power play as center Sebastian Aho netted what turned out to be the difference-maker with 5:42 left in the third. With the Canes getting just two power play opportunities, the need to convert on that chance was significant with the Penguins pressing for a game-tying goal.
“I thought overall we did a nice job [on the penalty kill],” Brind’Amour said. “And then obviously we only had two power plays all game but they were both good and obviously it came up huge, that was the winning goal. Special teams, goaltending, it always seems to come down to those things.”
The Canes offense also made a point to beat Pittsburgh out of the gate in each period. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the game-opener within the first five minutes, but nine was the magic number for Carolina in the second and third. Center Jordan Staal sucker-punched the Pens with a goal just nine seconds into the second period. Then lightning struck twice in the third when right wing Jesper Fast scored the first goal of the final period in nine seconds.
“I thought we did a great job losing that draw,” Staal said. “[Defenseman Brady Skjei] made a great read on the quick-up there, obviously a good job on that one. The other one was a little face off play that worked out in our favor.”
The Canes will need to be quick getting back to action as well with a short turnaround in the schedule. Carolina travels across Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, Feb. 21. Puck drops at 3 p.m.
