Rangers had the chance for an early lead goal when the puck lay loose in front of Raanta and Ryan Strome tried to whip it in.
But 33-year-old Raanta played big in the goal and instead it was Carolina who was responsible for a post hit at the end of the first period.
In others came the lead goal for the home team.
In numerical superiority, Brendan Smith poked in 1-0 after Sebastian Aho had a delicious tunnel in the play.
Rangers went for an equalizer and at the end of the third period, Raanta had to stand for several parades in a row.
It was only with two seconds left that Carolina could breathe a sigh of relief when Aho set the final score 2-0 in an empty cage.
Carolina now leads Mika Zibanejad's New York Rangers 2-0 in matches.