If you’re unfamiliar with the game of Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov, his play style is must-watch television. From coming 20 feet out of his net to dive head first at the puck to straight up chucking his stick in the air, the Russian goalie was up to his usual antics tonight against the New York Islanders.
Fans can’t help but hold their breath when he makes some of the daring plays he does on a game-by-game basis. You can’t argue with results. With 32 saves, Kochetkov earned his first shutout of the season and the ninth of his career.
“You come to expect a little surprise with him,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “I thought he was really good in there, calm, except the one. Maybe he just can’t help himself. He’s got a way he’s got to play and you can’t take that out of him. … You’re certainly not going to change the way, what got him here and what makes him a good player.”
The Hurricanes (20-10-1) scored all four of their goals before the end of the second period and held onto the result through the final 20 minutes as they shut out the New York Islanders (12-14-7) in a 4-0 rout.
One forward from each line lit the lamp tonight in one of the more complete games the forward group has had this season. Finding their rhythm again, the forwards have brought the hard forechecking they seem to have missed and over the last two games, it has paid dividends on the scoresheet.
The energy brought to the forecheck paid off, giving Carolina an early power play opportunity. After a little game of catch with center Sebastian Aho, right wing Andrei Svechnikov took the puck straight to the net and stuffed a shot between Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s pads.
Eight of Svechnikov’s 12 goals have come on the man advantage this year. He’s been an instrumental part of the fifth-best power play unit in the entire NHL.
Less than three minutes after Svechnikov’s opening tally, left wing Jordan Martinook piled on. Center Jordan Staal used his big frame to stop the puck from escaping the zone and then drove to the net, firing a shot. With Sorokin forced to get a pad to the shot, the rebound found the tape of Martinook’s stick and quickly made its way to the back of the net.
The play now marks the second consecutive game Staal has assisted on a goal from Martinook. Martinook’s 16 points through the first 31 games mark his best start to the season in the veteran’s 11-season NHL career.
While relentless puck-hunting generated chances on the offensive side, it often left gaps for the Islanders to exploit, leaving Kochetkov to fend for himself in and out of the net. In the first period, Kochetkov cut off the angle on a two-on-one, made saves with an Islanders player alone in front of the net and threw his stick in the air.
With a strong effort in the second, the Canes doubled their advantage on goals from centers Tyson Jost and Sebastian Aho. Jost forced a turnover and was then in the right spot at the right time to bat the puck into the goal out of mid-air. Aho and left wing Eric Robinson combined for a give-and-go play that Aho put an exclamation mark on with a one-timer.
“It was just nice, not sneaky nice,” Aho said. “Two great passes and kind of a one-time shot there that went in.”
With the second period done, only 20 minutes separated Kochetkov from the shutout. He said with seven minutes in the last period, he focused on simply staying in the net.
Successfully putting the thoughts out of mind and the game to bed, Kochetov became the third-fastest Hurricanes goaltender to reach nine career shutouts and the fastest by a Hurricanes goaltender from the start of his career.
Two games in a row the Hurricanes have had goalies play at an elite level and will need it the rest of the way as they look to climb back to first in the Metropolitan division standings. Carolina has a chance to make up some ground when they travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Capitals on Friday at 7 p.m.
