Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta stood tall in a 5-2 Game 4 win over the Islanders. But Adam Proteau wonders if Raanta's good enough for the Canes to win the Cup.
After their 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Hurricanes hold a 3-1 series lead in their first-round showdown with the New York Islanders. But something feels not quite right about them.
After losing Game 3 to the Isles Friday, the Hurricanes did regroup well in a dominant win Sunday. But if you’d said, prior to the start of the regular season, the Canes were going rely on Antti Raanta to carry all the load in net for them this off-season, we’d have been more worried about picking Carolina to win the Stanley Cup.
As it turns out, the Hurricanes did not receive high-quality goaltending through the first three games against the Islanders – at least, not consistently high-quality netminding. Although Raanta turned aside 25 of 26 Isles shots in Carolina’s 2-1 Game 1 win, he posted an average .887 save percentage in his next two appearances. That is certainly not nearly good enough, especially when the guy in the other team’s net is star goalie Ilya Sorokin. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour went back to Raanta for Game 4, however, and the Hurricanes responded with their most thorough win over the Islanders. Raanta stopped 27 of 29 Isles shots in Sunday’s win.
That said, Raanta is 33 years old, and we’re guessing Brind’Amour would love to be able to spell Raanta off with veteran Frederik Andersen at some point. Unfortunately for Carolina, Andersen has been sidelined since April 13 for an undisclosed reason, and third-string youngster Pyotr Kochetkov hasn’t played an NHL game since March 28.
It all adds up to Carolina being in a potentially sore spot in net before this series is said and done. If Raanta can’t keep his game above the .900 SP plateau, the Hurricanes must continue to depend more on their offense to emerge as a winner of this series and move on to the second round.
At one point this season, the Hurricanes have had three attractive options in net. But now, as the post-season and grind of the regular season whittle down their choices between the pipes, Carolina is almost certainly leaving all hope with Raanta. If he doesn’t come through, the injury-depleted Hurricanes might well wind up with more holes to sink their playoff boat than any NHL team can absorb.
Every team good enough to make the playoffs is dealing with the injury bug to one degree or another. But few teams can thrive without a solid goaltending structure. At the moment, the Hurricanes are getting enough to get by – and they’re now only one win away from ending this series and getting set to take on the New York Rangers or New Jersey Devils in the second round.
It’s one thing to outlast Sorokin and a relatively weak Isles offense. It’s another thing altogether about facing off against a team like the Rangers, which has a star goalie but a far better offense than that of the Islanders.
If Raanta reverts to his subpar form from Games 2 and 3, the Hurricanes could find themselves in big trouble. They’ve got the Islanders on the ropes, but with due respect to the Isles, they’re not nearly as all-around problematic as the Rangers or Devils are likely to be.
In the war of attrition that is the NHL playoffs, you never know how truly fortunate you are to have two or three healthy goaltenders until the injury bug bites down on your team, and you’re hurting for netminding depth. The Hurricanes are on the verge of eliminating the Isles, but it may not be long before they’re on the ropes themselves.