The Carolina Hurricanes goalie needed assistance leaving the ice with 4:23 remaining in the second period after he got tangled with New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider, then lunged across the crease as Rangers center Mika Zibanejad circled with the puck, appearing to injure his right leg in the process.
Raanta stayed up for a moment before dropping face-first onto the ice. He had to be helped off by Hurricanes forwards Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter while putting little pressure on his leg. Raanta, who made 16 saves, was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov.
Carolina was eliminated with a 6-2 loss. New York was leading 2-0 at the time of the injury.
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Rangers series coverage]
The Hurricanes announced before the start of the third period that Raanta would not return. Asked if he would have been available had they moved on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, coach Rod Brind'Amour said, "No. No chance. He's going to get checked out [Tuesday]. He would have been out probably -- I don't know for sure, but he didn't look too good walking out of here, or limping."
Kochetkov allowed three goals on 12 shots in relief.
Raanta was Carolina's starting goalie for all but one game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after Frederik Andersen was injured April 16. Raanta finished the postseason 6-5 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in 13 starts.
The Hurricanes also lost forward Seth Jarvis to an upper-body injury in the first period after a hit by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba.
