Raanta starts 2nd straight game; Lundqvist on Rangers bench
CHICAGO (AP) Goaltender Antti Raanta made his second straight start for the New York Rangers on Friday night, leaving Henrik Lundqvist on the bench.
Raanta had 17 saves in Thursday's 2-1 victory at Winnipeg, improving to 6-1 with a 2.05 goals-against average in nine games this season. Even with the games on back-to-back nights, coach Alain Vigneault opted to start Raanta again at Chicago.
''I think everybody knows Hank's the guy, and Hank's our No. 1, but at this time, I think Antti's game is just a little bit better than Hank,'' Vigneault said. ''We need to win hockey games, and Antti played real well last night, wasn't real busy. This is a familiar spot for him, so we just thought it was the right thing to do for the team.''
It was Raanta's first game against his former team. He made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks in 2013 and played for them for two seasons before he was traded to New York.
Raanta was 14-0-3 in 19 appearances at the United Center coming into the game.
''I've got to think he'll be highly motivated,'' Vigneault said. ''He's just working extremely hard and playing well right now. For me, it just made a lot of sense.''
Lundqvist is 12-8-1 with a 2.55 GAA in 21 games. Lundqvist is New York's career leader with 386 wins, 60 shutouts and a .920 save percentage.