Carolina took the risk last summer when hiring two injured goalkeepers. Now both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta are recovering from the illness and the NHL playoffs are at the door.
25.4. 15: 09 • Updated April 25. 15:09
Carolina Hurricanes received nasty news about Finnish time on Sunday night when Antti Raanta left the trough due to injury. The team’s number one goalkeeper Frederik Andersen has already suffered from a lower body injury.
A week before the start of the playoffs, Carolina is in a situation where its starting goalkeeper has one NHL start under his belt – and two wins in particular.
Russian Pyotr Kotshetkov22, scored by Raantaa on Sunday, but it’s clear that the injury of the two main goalkeepers before the playoffs is Carolina’s disaster.
The exact nature of Andersen’s injury or recovery schedule is not yet known. It is not promising.
Raanta was injured in a harmless situation. The injury is likely to be found in the groin area. In the case of the unfortunate Rauma guard, it is also worrying that his injury history from recent years is difficult to read – Raanta has not played an intact NHL season for at least four years.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told local media after the match that Raanna ‘s injury may not be serious after all. How much hope and how much realism there was in the pilot’s speech remains to be seen. Of course, it is also possible that the Finnish guard was taken over as a precautionary measure.
Carolina has two regular season games left. After that, it will start the first round of the playoff series against probably hard Boston. The Bruins are a team ready for a surprise anyway, but if it gets a clear advantage for itself in the goalkeeping department, the weights will fluctuate significantly.
The situation is also acute in the sense that Carolina as a team has not been at its best in recent weeks anyway. There were, of course, four wins last week, but all against the basement teams.
Tuesday’s Rangers match is Carolina’s most important spring so far. Against a quality team, the game should have a hard charge and a playoff spirit.
It is possible that Andersen, Raanta or both will recover by the playoffs. Equally, Hurricanes must be prepared to play in front of a 22-year-old completely inexperienced Russian youth.
By the way, Kotshetkov has won the playoffs in the Russian Junior League in the spring of 2017.
One way or another, Carolina’s risk with the goalkeepers this summer is triggering the worst possible seam. The Finnish-Danish goalkeeper tandem was widely recognized as high-quality, but especially the serious injuries of the past season raised questions. In the case of Raanna, the injury spiral goes back years.