Antti Raanta, a goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes, was not projected to start against the Avalanche on Saturday. Pyotr Kochetkov will start instead.
Raanta was placed on injured reserve on March 11 due to a lower-body issue. He missed his third straight contest despite returning to practice on Monday. Raanta has a 3-2 record this postseason, allowing 13 goals on 139 shots.
Raanta was also unavailable for Friday’s 6-1 win over the Devils. He is considered day-to-day.
The Hurricanes have three goalies. Frederik Andersen is not ready to play due to an upper-body injury.
Raanta has been injury-prone throughout his career. He sprained his MCL in the Hurricanes’ Game 7 loss to the Rangers in Round 2. He hasn’t appeared in a contest since Game 5 of the last round against the Islanders.
Raanta has had two consistent seasons for the Canes with a combined record of 34-8-7. He started 26 games in each season. His save percentage decreased from .912 to .910 this season, but his goals against decreased from 2.45 to 2.23 from the 2021-22 season to the 2022-23 season.
Raanta is expected to make his 2023-24 season debut on Sunday. He was expected to be available for Game 4 against New Jersey. However, after further evaluation, it was determined that he would need more time to recover.
