“For me, it was obviously the first start in the NHL playoffs,” said Raanta. “I was just trying to focus on the things that (allowed me) to be successful. It worked well. But it’s just a game, a win, and now I’re just reorganizing and getting ready for Wednesday.” The 2nd game will be held here on Wednesday. Raanta started in place of Frederik Andersen, who played 52 regular season games (51 starts) for the Hurricanes but lost the final six due to a lower body injury and was ruled out on Sunday. Raanta entered the game with five appearances to ease his career in the post-season, two with the Arizona Coyotes in 2020 and three with the New York Rangers in 2016. “The Rants played very well, they made a big save,” said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Then we started our game a bit in the second.” [RELATED: Complete Hurricanes vs. Bruins series coverage] Vincent Trotsky and Seth Jarvis each had one goal and one assist and Nino Niederreiter, Teubo Tervainen and Andrei Sveznikov scored for Carolina. Taylor Hall scored for Boston and Linus Ulmark made 20 saves in his playoff debut. The Bruins defeated the Hurricanes 9-1 in the first six minutes. Carolina defender Brendan Smith cleared a shot from the goal line after Craig Smith’s shot at 5:03 went past Raanda, who then stopped the shot 32 seconds later against Derek Forport and Charlie. Coyle to keep the game without a score. “The goalkeeper repulsed them and there are a few bumps around the front of the net that we just could not find or follow the right path, but it was there,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “[Raanta] got paid to play, too, and did a good job and kept them in the game early. “… We were ready to play, we just could not put anything in the net early.” Jarvis, a 20-year-old rookie, gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 16:28 in the second period when he ousted Jacob Slavin’s one-year-old from the right spot. Niederreiter extended the lead to 2-0 at 18:38 with a shot from above the left side of the box by Jordan Staal. “There was a very clear front going on with Jordan,” Niederreiter said. “When the big man is in front, nobody sees anything. I was just trying to put the roll in the nets and luckily he came in. It was definitely a big goal.” Video: BOS @ CAR, Gm1: Jarvis opens the scoring with the tip-in goal Hall reduced the lead to 2-1 at 2:53 of the third period with a one-yard touchdown pass from Eric Howla, who was behind the net, but Tervainen made it 3-1 at 7:02 when he took pass from Trotsky to 2-in-1 and shoots under the crossbar. “Teravainen’s goal was really big,” said Brind’Amour. “I don’t think we had a lot of action and they were coming a bit. That settled a little for the rest of the game.” Trotsky then extended the score to 4-1 at 16:59, making a backhand shot from Ulmark’s mask from the goal line. “The (fourth) goal would not matter, short,” said Cassidy. “[Ullmark] will tell you that it’s not a great goal to give up, but by then it will be 4-1, so we are not going to put anything in Ullmark. “Whoever goalkeeper is in there for us, you have to fight to find bolts in this series.” Video: BOS @ CAR, Gm1: Trocheck beats Ullmark from a clear angle Sveznikov scored an empty goal with 2:01 for the final 5-1. “They are really playing a very good playoff hockey and I’m sure they’re really looking forward to trying to beat the Browns,” Hall said. “It’s a series of two series now that have not gone well, and they are playing hockey playoffs, so it will be a big series no matter what happened tonight.” The teams meet in the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. Boston swept Carolina in the 2018-19 Eastern Conference Finals and won five games in the first round in 2019-20. NOTES: Bruins defender Charlie McAvoy had an assist and played 24:08. Άρ Jarvis finished the regular season with a seven-game winning streak (three goals, four assists). … Slavin has 20 points (two goals, 18 assists) in his playoff career, tying Dave Babych for more than one defender in Hurricanes / Hartford Whalers history. … Randa is the third goalkeeper in NHL history to make five appearances in the playoffs with relief before starting a game, linking Peter Budai (five games) and Hussein Saros (seven games).
