The Florida Panthers surrendered three power-play goals and only mustured 19 shots in a 4-0 loss to Antti Raantaa and the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in Raleigh.
After blanking the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Raanta delivered his second shutout of the season and the 17th of his career to backstop Carolina to its tenth consecutive victory.
Stefan Noesen, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen each scored power-play goals for the Hurricanes, who went 3-for-5 with the man-advantage and extended their point streak to 16 games (14-0-2), the longest in the league this season.
Brent Bruns had two assists and Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis and Jesper Kotkaniemi also collected helpers on the trio of power-play markers.
Kotkaniemi’s even-strength goal from Brett Pesce and Jarvis early in the third period, which came five seconds after an Anton Lundell tripping minor expired, crushed any hopes of an already unlikely Cats comeback.
Spencer Knight, making his first start since December 19, finished with 30 saves for the Panthers, who have lost four of their past five games. Knight’s best save came early in the middle frame when he robbed Aho with his glove.
The listless Panthers, who failed on six power-play opportunites and were shut out for the first time this season. simply didn’t have much to offer after Thursday night’s big win over Montreal. Florida will return home to face the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Wind & Shutters
- The Hurricanes are the fifth team in NHL history to have at least four shutouts during a winning streak of 10-plus games, joining the 1926-27 Montreal Canadiens (five shutouts in 11 games), 1972-73 New York Rangers (four in 10 games), 2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins (four in 15 games) and 2018-19 St. Louis Blues (four in 11 games).
- Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov each have shutouts in consecutive games this season, making Carolina the third team in NHL history to have two goalies accomplish that in a team’s first 36 games, joining the 1932-33 Montreal Maroons and the 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings.
- The Panthers were held to a season-low 19 shots and were outshot 12-3 in the first period, including a 14:15 stretch without forcing Raanta to make a save. Matthew Tkachuk, Eetu Luostarinen and Sam Bennett paced the Cats with three shots apiece.
- Brandon Montour (interfence) and Bennett (goaltender interfence) took penalties that led directly to goals. Andrei Svechnikov’s second period marker came courtesy of a too many men on the ice call.
- Radko Gudas dished out a game-high five hits, had one shot on goal, and two blocks in his second game since returning from concussion protocol.
- The season series is now tied with both teams producing shutout wins over the other. For more, pay a visit to Canes Country./