RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes started goalie Antti Raanta in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday after Frederik Andersen played four overtimes in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers.
Raanta stopped 24 of 26 shots, but the Panthers won 2-1 to take a 2-0 series lead.
Raanta, 34, last appeared in the Hurricanes’ Game 5 loss against the New York Islanders in the first round on April 25. Andersen took over the crease, won Game 6 and had started every game since then, winning five of seven games.
Andersen and Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky both played 139 minutes and 47 seconds in Game 1, the sixth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history. Panthers coach Paul Maurice didn’t hesitate in naming Bobrovsky his starter for Game 2, but Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated after Game 1 that a load-management decision for his goaltenders was under consideration.
“You have to. The guy played the whole game,” he said of Andersen.
One consideration in switching to Raanta was his dominance on home ice. On the regular season, Raanta won 11 of 12 home games with three shutouts and a .916 save percentage. In his 11 previous playoff home games, Raanta was 8-1 with a .943 save percentage and a 1.53 goals-against average with one shutout.
However, in the first round, Raanta was only 2-1 with a .905 save percentage at home.
