Raanta, Hurricanes shut out Panthers for franchise-best 10th win in row

The Carolina Hurricanes won a franchise-record 10th straight game when Antti Raanta made 19 saves in a 4-0 victory against the Florida Panthers at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.

Raanta has shutouts in consecutive games, including 24 saves in a 3-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
"I think we were able to carry over a little bit of something from the last game against Chicago," Raanta said. "When the game started today, you just felt like you're in there. Even though there were not many shots in the first period (3), you were able to get into the game nicely."
Stefan Noesen, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen each scored a power-play goal for the Hurricanes (24-6-6), who extended their point streak to 16 games (14-0-2), the longest in the NHL this season.
Carolina, which entered Friday ranked 27th in the NHL on the power play (17.5 percent), went 3-for-5 with the man-advantage. It entered tied for 10th on the penalty kill (80.7 percent) and went 6-for-6.
"We haven't had one of those really all year where we capitalized on the power play," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "The penalty kill was good too, so special teams won us the game. That's the game now. You've got to have that clicking because it wins you games.
"I think we've been solid this whole stretch and, to be honest with you, the whole year. What I've really liked about this stretch is we haven't had any dips in our game."

Spencer Knight made 30 saves in his first start since Dec. 19 for the Panthers (16-17-4), who were shut out for the first time this season and have lost four of their past five games.
"They play a hard gap game," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "They don't give you a whole lot of easy ice, so there's not a lot of inside plays. But we tried to find them."
Noesen gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 7:05 of the first period, tapping in the puck after Sebastian Aho's wrist shot went between Knight's pads and off the left post on a power play.
"That's big, especially at home to get the crowd going right away," Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi said. "It's good to get the confidence going. All teams need that."

Svechnikov extended it to 2-0 at 4:58 of the second period on a power play, scoring on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that went in off the left post.
Teravainen made it 3-0 at 11:55 on the man-advantage when Seth Jarvis received the puck at the left post from Kotkaniemi, spun around and whiffed, allowing the puck to slide to Teravainen at the right post.
"Special teams obviously played a pretty large role," Panthers forward Eric Staal said. "They were good, and we need to be better in that area. It was a tough night for us."
Kotkaniemi made it 4-0 at 3:50 of the third period with a wrist shot from between the circles five seconds after a power play ended.
Florida was held to a season-low 19 shots and was outshot 12-3 in the first period, including a 14:15 stretch without a shot on goal. Raanta made 11 saves in the second, including a glove save on forward Sam Bennett's shot from between the circles at 6:24.
"'Rants' had some tough saves tonight," Brind'Amour said. "It just settles the whole group when you're out there and you're messing up and the goalie makes the save. You're not talking about it. He was good tonight."
NOTES: Raanta has 17 NHL shutouts and two this season. … Carolina is 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). … The Hurricanes have 25 points (12-0-1) in December, tying for second-most in a calendar month in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history (10-2-5 in March 2017). … Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns had two assists and has 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) in 36 games, the fewest games needed by a defenseman age 37 or older since Brian Rafalski (27 games in 2010-11). … Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov each have shutouts in consecutive games this season, becoming the third team in NHL history to accomplish it in a team's first 36 games, joining the 1932-33 Montreal Maroons and the 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings.