Recap: Canes Take Point In Overtime Loss To San Jose

SAN JOSE, CA. - The Carolina Hurricanes completed their tour of California Monday night, taking a point to go in an overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, 2-1.

Three Takeaways
1) Antti Raanta Was Fantastic Once Again
Tonight was the Hurricanes 17th game of the regular season and just the fourth appearance for Antti Raanta.
It's been an interesting campaign to date for the 32-year-old Finnish netminder, who was making his second start in a week for the team. After Frederik Andersen's undefeated tear to start the season, it took until game number seven for Raanta to get his first appearance. Then, in his second showing of the year in Florida, he was run over, causing him to miss a little over a week. Needless to say, there hasn't been a ton of rhythm to his schedule. However, there hasn't been any sign of showing it from him.
Tuesday in Vegas Raanta single-handedly kept the team from falling behind during the second period, notching several big stops to keep the score knotted. Tonight was more of the same, as he was called upon several times to either protect the lead or hold the tie. A flawless first period continued into the middle 20, when Raanta made four marquee stops, a pair on both Timo Meier and Logan Couture. In the third the Sharks found a way to get one by him, but it was a shot that was created by a nice individual effort, catching a piece of a Hurricanes defender before beating him. The goal didn't appear to phase Raanta though, as he got right back to work, turning away a few more tries before the horn sounded to end regulation.

2) San Jose's Commitment To Blocking Shots Was Frustratingly Impressive
From the opening puck drop the home team showed a strong willingness to put their bodies in front of the Hurricanes shot attempts.
In nearly an even one-to-one ratio all evening long, there seemed to be a great deal of trouble for Carolina's defensemen to get shots through from the point. At the end of the day the Canes finished with 23 shots and San Jose finished with 23 blocks.
3) Games Like Tonight Are Going To Happen
Saturday after the team's 5-4 win over Los Angeles Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour was not happy with his team's performance.
Tonight, despite the loss, was a different tune from the bench boss. He was much more pleased with how tonight's effort went from his club, quick to credit San Jose for executing their game plan, led by their ability to stay in front of the puck.
Also pointing out that there are areas in which the team will want to improve on before Wednesday night's battle with Seattle, the team's leader did not seem discouraged by the outcome of tonight's game.

They Said It:
Antti Raanta on his 25-save performance:
"Like Vegas, I just started to feel more comfortable in there. We kind of knew what it was going to be, there was going to be a lot of shots from the point, a lot of screens and for me, I knew that if I controlled my rebounds and made my saves we were going to be successful today. Maybe a few too many rebounds went straight to their sticks, but the first goal was a bit unfortunate. I don't know if it hit Tony's stick, but it feels like I could make that save to keep us in the lead. That's hockey though. Sometimes there's bad bounces. It's getting better though. I'm getting more confident and it's fun to play."
Rod Brind'Amour on the game as a whole:
"I thought we were way better tonight [in comparison to Saturday]. It was a good game. We played well, they played better. We couldn't get pucks through, but we were trying to do the right things. We gave them a few chances at the end, I didn't love our last couple of shifts. We had a solid game. I didn't love our power play, that could have been better. That's the difference in the game."
What's Next?:
The team now flies to Seattle post-game and will practice there Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's meeting.