RALEIGH, N.C. — Ian Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes said it would be a “statement game,” a matchup of two of the NHL’s best teams.
Canes winger Nino Niederreiter said it should be a “fun” game although defenseman Brett Pesce quipped in rebuttal, “Not so fun.”
The Colorado Avalanche, everyone agreed, offered a supreme test Thursday. Not only do the Avs have some of the best forwards in the league — Nathan MacKinnon has world-class speed and skill — but a quickly rising superstar in defenseman Cale Makar.
In a game that had everything but a lot of scoring, the Carolina Hurricanes won, 2-0, as goalie Antti Raanta had 36 saves in his finest outing of the season.
Ethan Bear’s goal with 5:40 left in regulation finally gave the Canes a 1-0 lead and their fans a chance to roar. After forward Jesper Fast won a board battle and pushed the puck to Bear, the defenseman got off a shot from the right point that hit the Avs’ Nazem Kadri and eluded goalie Darcy Kuemper — Bear’s third goal of the season.
Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal with 1:32 left in regulation for a 2-0 lead after the Avs pulled Kuemper for a sixth attacker.
The Avalanche (41-13-5) came into the game with the best winning percentage in the league. The Canes (40-12-5), who last played Sunday against Seattle, were second in points percentage, and a crowd of more than 18,000 was at PNC Arena to see it.
As the game worked its way deep into the third period, it became a test of which goalie would allow the first goal. Both were on point, making the tough stops.
In the third, Raanta had MacKinnon first find the post with an attempt — a near-miss — and then get a second chance. But Raanta got a piece of the shot.
The Avs’ Makar had a 13-game point streak end as the Canes limited his opportunities.
Neither team could score in the first two periods as Raanta had 28 saves and Kuemper 25. Both goalies were moving well and anticipating well. Both got a little helps from the posts at times.
It was strength against strength as Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, with the last change, matched Aho’s line against the MacKinnon line. They saw a lot of each other in the next 60 minutes.
The Canes, with plenty of jump, had a 19-11 shooting edge in the first period. Aho nearly scored seconds into the game, bursting in for a backhander, and the Canes were quicker team and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone.
The Avs then flipped the script in the second, outshooting Carolina 17-6 and forcing the Canes to work a lot more in their own zone.
Both teams had power-play chances. Often they resulted in short-handed chances as the penalty kill units efficiently did their jobs.
