On Monday, it was announced that Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen is dealing with blood clotting, which will sideline him indefinitely.
It was discovered during recent medical tests, but the Canes were quoted as being ‘confident that Freddie will be able to make a full recovery.’
There’s no timeline for his return, which means Antti Rant is the No. 1 goalie in the Stanley Cup-contender Carolina Hurricanes.
On Tuesday, the Finn showed he’s more than ready for that task with an overall brilliant game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Raanta stole the show completely, with the game tied 2-2. Raanta channeled his inner Dominik Hasek as he stopped a breakaway by rushing out from his goal, flying to get a stick on the puck to break off the play.
Fans absolutely loved Raanta’s play, which is one we, unfortunately enough, rarely see these days. And he finished it off by diving to stop a puck shot towards the goal immediately afterward.
”You’re kind of looking back at your own net and thinking that you’re too far away, but then your instincts kick in and you just try to do something. Dived and then it hit my stick,” Raanta told The Hockey News’ Ryan Henkel postgame.
Raanta said he didn’t have much time to think about it. It was more a case of ’just do it.’
”You’re almost at the boards and sliding around. After that, you just try to get back to the net as soon as possible and catch your breath. When you take those first two steps, you can’t back down anymore. It was pure instincts. Puck stayed out of the net so it went well.”
The Carolina Hurricanes eventually won the game in overtime after Sebastian Aho collected his second assist of the night, helping Martin Necas to decide the game.
But on social media, all the praise went to Antti Raanta for his breathtaking and daring save.
”Insane play,” one said.
”That was just insane! My son and I couldn’t believe what we just watched,” another added.
