This is how Mikko Rantanen’s first match alongside Sebastian Aho went

New York

Colorado Traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night local time Mikko Rantanen less than a day later, he played his first game in New York in a Hurricanes shirt.

Carolina head coach Rob Brind’Amour immediately placed Rantanen in the team’s first line Sebastian Ahon and Jackson Blaken alongside.

Rantanen was left without power points and got a total of 18.54 minutes of playing time, which is significantly less than what he is used to in Colorado.

This season, the Finnish jässikka played an average of no less than 22.30 minutes in the Avalanche, but in Carolina he will have to get used to a much more even game.

Out of the attackers, only Aho played more than 20 minutes. Rantanen shot a total of five times towards the goal and was one notch ahead.

Carolina lost to the Islanders in overtime with a score of 2–3. From the Finns, those who grabbed the assist point got to the points Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Aho scored.

Natural Stat Trickin according to advanced statistics, the chain of Aho, Blake and Rantanen dominated the court events while on the ice. The chain created five goal chances against the opponent’s two, but Rantanen and Aho still had a lot to improve.

In the first one in the set, the playing of Rantanen and the whole chain was still sticky. Ikkösvitja was able to press in the first exchanges of the game in the Islanders’ territory, but the passes did not want to click on the shoulders. Negligence bothered me.

A couple of times the Islanders got an offensive attack going against the chain of Rantanen and Aho.

Aho gave the Hurricanes a 2–0 lead after six and a half minutes of the match. Aho tried to pass the puck from the attack corner to Rantanen in front of the goal, but the player bounced off the opponent’s skate and into the goal.

In the opening set, Rantanen played a little less than five minutes and did not get a shot on goal.

Immediately At the beginning of the second period, Rantanen got to try scoring for the first time in the Hurricanes’ outfit. Blake moved the puck in a direct attack to the Finnish big man, who shot directly from the pass. Islanders goaltender Marcus Högberg repelled easily.

Shortly after this, Carolina gained the upper hand for the first time. The first five skated on the ice, which included, in addition to Rantanen, Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svetsnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere.

Rantanen played with superiority in the familiar position of shooter/playmaker on the right wing. Right at the beginning of the overtime, he shot directly from Gostisbehere’s pass towards the top corner, but Högberg caught the puck.

Around the middle of the second period, Rantanen’s opening goal in a Hurricanes shirt was even closer. The Finnish pier was able to shoot directly Dmitri Orlovin button pass from the best goal-scoring sector, but the low shot hit the post.

Rantanen played seven minutes and 24 seconds in the second period and shot three times at the goal.

In the first two, we did not yet see greater chemistry or sparkling teamwork between Aho and Rantanen. At the end of the second period, Aho was able to get into a good goal position from Rantanen’s pass, but before that, the Finnish center accidentally hit an Islanders player in the head with his stick. Aho was sent to sit in the ice hall instead of the goal place.

In the third in the set, Rantanen and Aho started to warm up a bit and find mutual chemistry.

Rantanen was in trouble right from the opening exchange of the final set. He spun an old-fashioned one from behind the goal that wasn’t far from sneaking in. Blake was able to try again from the loose puck, but the Swedish goalkeeper Högberg blocked that as well.

The Islanders tied the game at 2-2 in the third period, but after that, Carolina forced one turnover after another into the Islanders’ territory. The offensive game started to unravel. Aho and Rantanen set up a good scoring opportunity for Blake, but he didn’t succeed.

Along with Rantanen’s and Aho’s joke, Carolina’s head coach Brind’Amour’s chain in the middle of the match also seemed dangerous Taylor Hall-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Andrei Svetsnikov.

In overtime Rantanen and Aho got on the ice as an attacking duo at the very beginning, but the Finns couldn’t get a chance to score.

Brock Nelson scored the Islanders’ winning goal in overtime after Svetsnikov lost the puck, when the Finnish duo had already gone to the bench.

Rantanen’s Carolina will play the next match on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday Finnish time in New York. Then it’s Rangers.