In a 4-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks, Antti Raanta became the fourth goalie in New York Rangers franchise history to earn a shutout in his first start with the team, stopping all 22 shots thrown at him and snapping a three-game Rangers losing streak (0-2-1).
“The only thing I was thinking was to win. Our guys defended so well,” Raanta told TSN following the game.
Antti Raanta improved to 15-0-3 at home in his career, and made some stellar saves in the process. https://t.co/o76CU55EmF
— NHL (@NHL) October 20, 2015
Mark Staal, Mats Zuccarello, Jesper Fast and Viktor Stalberg got the job done at the other end of the ice with a goal each. Staal opened the scoring for the Rangers half way through the first period, converting on a wrist shot sent through traffic.
“Everyone in the room knows that the level we were playing at isn’t acceptable,” Staal also told TSN. “It’s something we wanted to take care of.”
The Rangers acquired the Finnish back-up goalie over the summer in a trade that would send prospect forward Ryan Haggerty to the Chicago Blackhawks. In just 40 career NHL games, Raanta, 26, has 21 wins, four shutouts and a .914 save percentage.
He is just the fourth goaltender to get a shutout in his first game as a New York Ranger, joining Hal Winkler (1926), John Ross Roach (1928) and Marcel Paille (1957) as goaltenders to have acheived the feat.
Main Photo Credit:
Caption: NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 19: Antti Raanta #32 of the New York Rangers makes the third period save as Barclay Goodrow #89 of the San Jose Sharks looks for the rebound at Madison Square Garden on October 19, 2015 in New York City. The Rangers shutout the Sharks 4-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
