In Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Antti Raanta made 36 saves in a 2-0 shutout of the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
“I think it’s just getting that rhythm, getting that confidence and just playing the game. I don’t have to think too much,” Raanta said. “Obviously, a great feeling.”
Ethan Bear snapped a scoreless tie in the third period to give the Canes a 1-0 lead.
“It’s like we’re talking about all day, just get pucks to the net,” Bear said. “We just got a lucky bounce.”
The Hurricanes improved to 40-12-5.
Colorado has lost four of their last five matches.
“I thought it was a well-played hockey game by both teams, highly competitive, lots of pace,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “Not a lot of room to move; that’s why the score was 0-0.
“They got a break when they threw it to the net, which is what can happen. I think it hits [Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri] up high by the battle and it changes direction and beats ‘Kemps.’ So that’s the difference in the hockey game.”
The Avs dropped to 41-13-5.
“I thought he was really good, especially early on,” Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog said. “In the first period, he did a great job of settling things down and keeping us in that game. They came out fast and hard, and he made some big stops.”
Sebastian Aho iced the win with an empty-net strike with 92 seconds left in regulation.
“It was a pretty good game, pretty spirited,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think we all felt that ‘Rants’ had that kind of game in him. We all know how important goaltending is. It’s nice to have two guys you can count on.”
Darcy Kuemper made 35 saves in the Avs loss.
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