Hurricanes take 2-0 lead over Boston with physical victory

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the firstround series.

Jesper Fast had the game’s first goal for Carolina in another strong offensive showing to start this series. Rookie goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov came on in relief of Raanta to finish with 30 saves.

Game 3 is Friday night in Boston.

The Hurricanes also played with a physical edge against a Boston team that has knocked them out of the playoffs twice in three postseasons. And it came in a game that quickly went from competitive to feisty and downright ornery in quick fashion — namely after Boston’s David Pastrnak knocked Raanta from the game midway through the first period when he struck the goaltender in the head with a gloved hand as he tried to skate past him.

Already down injured No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen to start the playoffs, Carolina turned to Kochetkov as Raanta exited while bleeding from an apparent mouth injury.

Patrice Bergeron scored both of Boston’s goals, the first on a loose rebound in the second and then another on a redirection near the crease in the third. Linus Ullmark surrendered four goals for the second straight game and finished with 29 saves.

After Raanta’s exit, the teams constantly traded words and hits, along with repeatedly tussling after the whistle. There was the jarring shoulder-to-chest blast by Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov that leveled Hampus Lindholm and left him wobbly as he was helped to the locker room late in the second.

Then there was Boston’s Brad Marchand giving a bit of a shove to

Kochetkov as he tried to play a puck. The goaltender objected and gave Marchand a shove after the play, only to see Marchand immediately swing his stick and pop Kochetkov in the right arm to draw a slashing penalty.

It was part of a busy night in the box for the Bruins, who had 13 penalties for 28 minutes. The Hurricanes converted twice on on the power play, including Niederreiter’s finish at the crease on a 5-on-3 sequence for the 4-1 lead at 18:52 of the second.

Niederreiter’s second goal was an empty-netter in the final minute. Moments later, the game fittingly ended with the teams needing to be separated once more after

before that colt died in December after a workout at Santa Anita.

Yakteen has about 30 horses of varying abilities in his barn. Adding Messier and Taiba has provided a jolt of positive energy, he said.

“I have never, ever woken up and not wanted to go to work,” he said. “I enjoy it tremendously.”

Yakteen’s career highlights include four Grade 1 stakes victories, including Taiba in the recent Santa Anita Derby, and an Eclipse Award for champion sprinter Points Offthebench. He has over 250 career victories and purse earnings of over $12 million.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Taiba in the Derby, having successfully teamed with Yakteen in California.

“He’s one of those guys you feel confident when you ride for him,” Smith said. “He’s been around long enough. I think he’ll be great.”

Yakteen was raised in Germany, where his Lebanese father was stationed with the U.S. Army after becoming an American citizen.

He moved to the U.S. at age 18 in 1982, joining a sister who lived next to Los Alamitos racetrack in Cypress, California. He attended the races for the first time and was hooked.

“That night was electrifying and it’s been with me ever since,” he said.

He got a day job at the track working in publicity, group sales and marketing. At night, he’d watch the races.

It wasn’t long before Yakteen made his way to the stable area, offering to work for free filling water buckets and mucking stalls. He took up living in a tack room.

“I enjoyed every aspect of it,” he said. “I had a goal that I wanted to be part of the industry.”

After starting with harness horses, Yakteen got hired by a whitehaired quarter horse trainer named Baffert, who had left Arizona to chase his own dream. When Baffert switched to thoroughbreds in 1988, Yakteen stayed with him.

A few years later, Yakteen was in the racing office at Santa Anita when he crossed paths with Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham, who said hello.

“I was like, ‘Wow, the pope spoke to me,’” Yakteen said. “The timing was perfect.”

He joined Whittingham’s stable as an assistant. By 1994, Yakteen was at his first Kentucky Derby helping with second-place finisher Strode’s Creek.

Two years later, he and Whittingham returned with a Derby runner. At the same time, Baffert was finishing second with Cavonnier in his first Derby.

In 1997, Yakteen returned to Baffert’s barn and for the next seven years he was part of the team that worked with back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Real Quiet and 2001 Derby champion War Emblem.

Having learned patience and the ability to read a horse’s subtle signs from Baffert and Whittingham, Yakteen opened his own stable in 2004.

By then, he had married Millie Ball, an exercise rider for Baffert. She’s now a host and reporter for digital horse racing network XBTV.

The couple’s two sons, 16-year-old Sam and 14-year-old Ben, will be at home “pouting” about missing the Derby because of school, Yakteen said.

What happens after the Derby is up in the air.

Yakteen said there’s been no discussions about whether Messier and Taiba will stay in his barn. Baffert’s suspension runs through July 2, keeping him out of the Preakness on May 21 and the Belmont on June 11.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that if we have a successful campaign that will be a realistic opportunity,” Yakteen said.

At 57, Yakteen knows the huge odds a trainer faces in getting one horse to the Kentucky Derby. And he’s got two.

“It’s like having a lottery ticket sort of fall in your lap,” he said. “Now we’re trying to cash it.”