SEATTLE – After earning the win in relief on Tuesday night in San Jose, Antti Raanta is expected to have the reigns again tonight in net for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Taking over just 5:27 into the first period after Frederik Andersen was pulled from the game after taking a shot to the mask, “Father Finn” stopped 12 shots en route to his first victory of the young season.
The good news is that it may not be a serious injury to Andersen, as he took part in yesterday’s practice, and once again skated this morning. Andersen and Raanta were joined on the ice by Pyotr Kochetkov, who was recalled from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League yesterday afternoon.
In front of the Canes’ crease, Sebastian Aho took part in morning skate, but in a limited role. Also good news after being surprisingly declared out due to an upper-body injury just prior to Tuesday night’s puck drop, Aho skated alongside Jack Drury and Brendan Lemieux.
Rod Brind’Amour shared post-game on Tuesday that Aho was going to be re-evaluated and that the incident occurred late during Sunday’s contest in Anaheim. Carolina’s head coach also said that if a player is not 100%, they’re not going to play. With that being said, Aho’s status remains up in the air for tonight, but it would not be at all surprising to see the team stick with their 11-7 setup once again.
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Tonight’s Projected Lineup
Forwards
Bunting – Teravainen – Necas
Noesen – Kotkaniemi – Jarvis
Martinook – Staal – Fast
Lemieux – Drury
Defense
Slavin – Burns
Skjei – Pesce
Orlov – Chatfield
DeAngelo
Goaltenders
Raanta
Andersen/Kochetkov (TBD)
Injuries
Aho (Upper-Body)
Andersen (Upper-Body)
Svechnikov (Knee)
Healthy Scratches
N/A
