Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour has no doubt Bruins forward David Pastrnak intentionally hit Carolina goalie Antti Raanta, the former Ranger who left bloodied in the first period Wednesday night and didn’t return to his team’s 5-2 victory.
“What do you think? It can’t get more obvious,” Brind’Amour, whose team holds a 2-0 series lead, said when asked if he felt Raanta was targeted.
Antti Raanta had a bloody mouth after being hit by David Pastrnak on Wednesday night. NHLI via Getty Images
Rod Brind’Amour speaks with the referee about David Pastrnak’s penalty. APPastrnak hit Raanta in the head, and the goaltender had blood in his mouth as a result. Pastrnak received a two-minute interference penalty. Rookie third-stringer Pyotr Kochetkov replaced Raanta, who started the first two games of the series with Frederik Andersen recovering from a lower-body injury.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy predictably didn’t think Pastrnak did anything egregious, telling reporters Pastrnak’s foot caught Raanta’s pad.
Boston didn’t come out of the game unscathed, though, as defenseman Hampus Lindholm left with an upper-body injury after a huge hit by Andrei Svechnikov. Cassidy said Lindholm is “not doing well.”
The series could get even more chippy as the Bruins get desperate to climb out of an 0-2 hole, with Game 3 in Boston set for Friday.
