RALEIGH, N.C. — Much has been made of the fact that the Carolina Hurricanes have used the same 18 skaters in all 13 games so far this season. And it’s certainly worked: Carolina is off to a 10-3-0 start, including outscoring opponents 23-9 on a perfect four-game homestand before its eight-game winning streak was snapped Saturday in Colorado. A quick glance at advanced stats shows the Hurricanes atop most of the main team categories.
None of that matters, however, without goaltending, and in today’s NHL, that usually means having two reliable goalies.
When opening-night starter Frederik Andersen was injured after starting the season 3-1-0 with 95 saves on 101 shots, Carolina’s most questioned position became even more precarious. The Hurricanes had Spencer Martin — who won four of six starts with Carolina a year ago — to call up, but they also lost the 1-2 punch that Andersen and 25-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov provided.
The Hurricanes had alternated Andersen and Kochetkov in the first seven games of the season, but since then, it’s been “The Kochetkov Show.”
The Russian goalie has thus far been up to the task.
Starting with an overtime win in Vancouver on Oct. 28, Kochetkov made five consecutive starts, all wins. Had he been back in the net Saturday in Colorado — Martin got his first start since being recalled — Kochetkov would have been the first Carolina goalie to make six straight starts since Andersen did so at the start of his first season with the team in 2021-22.
Other than the win-loss record (7-1-0), Kochetkov’s base statistics don’t look all that impressive: a reasonable-enough 2.51 goals-against average with a less-than-stellar .896 save percentage.
But a deeper dive reveals that Kochetkov has been making big saves at crucial moments.
Among goalies with at least five games played this season, Kochetkov ranks second to Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins in all-situations save percentage on high-danger chances (also .896), according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
That was on display Thursday against the Penguins, when Carolina allowed a season-high 36 shots on goal and Kochetkov allowed just one goal while stopping all nine high-danger chances he faced.
“Those keep you in the game or keep you going,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday of the big saves Kochetkov made both the night before and throughout the early part of the season. “And then the timing of saves has actually been real crucial this year. … Even though we’re playing really well, if they score, that changes the complexion. All of a sudden, you make that save, then we get the next one, the next one — then puts the game out of reach. That, to me, is also a big part of it.”
It hasn’t gone unnoticed by teammates either, though none seemed surprised at how well Kochetkov has performed.
“We’ve seen it last year, too,” forward Jordan Martinook said following the deceptive 5-1 win over the Penguins. “So it’s not like it’s a small sample size. We know what he is, and obviously he’s proving it. He’s playing incredibly well. And nights like tonight, when we’re not all there and he’s doing his thing, it’s nice to have him back there. He’s been incredible.”
While Sebastian Aho said he doesn’t concern himself too much with which goalie is backstopping the team, he did acknowledge Kochetkov’s ability to take the job and run with it in Andersen’s absence.
“You want that,” Aho said. “He can play at the high level, but he can do it night out, night out, which is more important than playing a great game one-off, right? … Him proving that, it’s huge.”
Perhaps most importantly, Kochetkov has been able to shake off bad goals or bad games and quickly rebound.
“Tonight was a really good game,” Brind’Amour said of Thursday’s 35-save effort against the Penguins. “The other night (Tuesday against Philadelphia when he gave up four goals on 16 shots), maybe there were a couple you were like, ‘uh,’ but obviously tonight he was on it.”
That’s another issue with just looking at the baseline numbers: When a goalie faces fewer shots — Kochetkov has seen 21 or fewer shots in four of eight starts — the goals count more against save percentage.
His numbers have also been a bit skewed by the penalty kill. While Carolina’s PK ranks seventh in the league, four of the eight goals Carolina has allowed short-handed were on five-on-threes (and Colorado’s five-on-four goal scored on Martin in Saturday’s game came just as a five-on-three expired). Kochetkov has not allowed a goal on a traditional power play this season.
“Those five-on-threes are tough,” said defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who is averaging 2 minutes, 11 seconds, of short-handed ice time per game after an average of 39 seconds last season. “Two men down; the odds are definitely not in your favor.”
Take away the four goals on six five-on-three situations this season, and the Hurricanes’ penalty kill goes from 84.3 percent to 93.2 percent.
Chatfield, who won the AHL’s Calder Cup with Kochetkov in 2021-22, echoed that he’s not surprised at how well the goalie has played.
“I mean, he’s been great the past few years I played with him, even in Chicago,” Chatfield said. “It’s nothing new. I think when you have him in net, you really trust him. And that’s a strength of ours, having such good goaltending.”
And for now, that burden rests mainly on Kochetkov. Carolina has been fortunate that its schedule hasn’t been too crowded, with just one back-to-back set so far. That’s allowed Brind’Amour and goalie coach Paul Schonfelder to lean on Kochetkov with Andersen out, though the team knows it will need to give Kochetkov the occasional breather — even if he doesn’t want one.
“No, he’s not going to tell you he’s tired,” Brind’Amour said of Kochetkov. “So that’s where you’ve got to just sometimes say, ‘OK, you need a day off or a game.’”
Brind’Amour conceded the team misses Andersen, though it also has confidence in Martin. It will just be a matter of deciding when to give Kochetkov a rest. Martin’s next start should come next weekend when the Hurricanes host the Senators and Blues following road games at Vegas and Utah.
“You just look at the schedule and the wear and tear, and then kind of get a feel,” Brind’Amour said, “A lot of it is what kind of game was it? What kind of rest did he get in between the games? Do we practice? Do we (not) practice? It kind of resets the bar when you’re off. So there’s a lot of factors that go into it.”
If Kochetkov keeps making saves, Carolina won’t have too much to worry about.
“It’s crucial,” Brind’Amour said following Thursday’s win of getting good goaltending. “It’s the most important position, obviously, in our game. We often say we don’t necessarily need you to be that good, but tonight he was that good.
“It’s just being consistent in that position, and he’s been that.”
(Photo of Pyotr Kochetkov: Derek Cain / Getty Images)
