The Carolina Hurricanes wrapped up their three-week road trip with a 1-0 win in Detroit over the Red Wings on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov became the first franchise netminder in almost 20 years to put up back-to-back shutouts, stopping 27 shots on goal to keep Detroit (13-9-6) from putting a point on the Canes (16-6-6).

“At the end of the day, he’s a real competitor,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “He wants to win, that’s for sure. I think everyone does, but the way he plays, aggressively — the guy has a love of playing, and that’s pretty clear.”

Carolina’s sole goal came from defenseman Brady Skjei, who notched the biscuit past Red Wings netminder Ville Husso late in the first period to put the Hurricanes on the board. Although the offensive performance wasn’t as impressive as last Saturday’s 3-0 shoutout against the New York Islanders, the Canes managed 27 shots on goal against the Red Wings.

“I think we definitely feel good about ourselves,” Skjei said. “We know it’s a night where we didn’t play our best, but we still came away with two points. I feel like confidence is never an issue with this team.”

However, Kochetkov’s dominance behind the crease was Carolina’s main strength in Tuesday night’s game. At the end of a long stretch of road games, nobody was expecting the 23-year-old to perform the way he did, let alone put up back-to-back shutouts.

“If you win, everyone’s going to be feeling good,” Brind’Amour said, “We look at it on a game-by-game basis. I know we won a few here and that’s nice, but tonight wasn’t our best. But I like the fact that the third period was our best period. … And when we had to make saves, our goalies came up big.”

The Hurricanes will, at long last, return to Raleigh on Thursday, Dec. 15 for a match against the Seattle Kraken. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.