Bear, Aho, Raanta help Hurricanes beat Avalanche 2-0

By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Ethan Bear scored the game’s first goal with 5:40 left and Sebastian Aho added an empty-netter to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 on Thursday night. Bear collected a loose puck along the boards near the Avalanche bench and fired a long shot that slipped through Darcy Kuemper. It was the breakthrough moment in a matchup of the league’s top two teams in terms of points percentage, and came after the teams had come up empty on a combined 68 shots to that point. Aho got the empty-netter with 1:32 left off a turnover. Antti Raanta had 36 saves for his second shutout this season for Carolina. Kuemper had 35 saves for Colorado.