Raanta leaves Game 7 after brutal injury

The bodies are beginning to pile up in Game 7.

Through two periods between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes and we've got at least two casualties in this game.

Midway through the 1st period the Hurricanes lost Seth Jarvis after he took an absolutely ENORMOUS hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba.

Here's the hit in question:

Trouba is, of course, no stranger to controversial hits... especially in this post-season. But, to me, this is a clean hit. Sure Trouba drives through Jarvis and makes contact with Jarvis' head, but it's clear that he's not targeting Jarvis' head. In other words: Clean hit. Nothing to see here.

According to NHL insider Kevin Weekes, Jarvis will NOT return to tonight's game:

Then in the 2nd period Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren was the recipient of a dirty hit from Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter deep in the Rangers' zone.

Check it out:

No call on the play. Ridiculous.

Lindgren left the game temporarily to get checked out but has returned to action. Bullet dodged for the Rangers.

And the absolute death knell for the Hurricanes came late in the 2nd frame when goaltender Antti Raanta left the game after appearing to injure either his groin or his hip in a lunging save attempt.

Check it out:

Raanta left the game, forcing 22 year old rookie Pyotr Kochetkov to come in in relief... and he promptly got scored on on just his second shot against.

3-0 Rangers. Things aren't looking so hot for the Hurricanes.