Carolina Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov leaves game after scary collision
The Carolina Hurricanes’ goaltending problems may have gone from bad to worse.
The Canes, who already have goalie Frederik Andersen sidelined eight to 12 weeks following knee surgery, had goalie Pyotr Kochetkov leave Saturday’s game at Columbus after a collision with defenseman Sean Walker.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had no immediate update after the game, which Carolina lost in a shootout, but said of the play, “It didn’t look good.”
“Obviously we already have one goalie down. This is not ideal, for sure,” Brind’Amour said.
The Canes returned from their three-game road trip after the Columbus game and did not practice Sunday. Carolina (14-5-1) hosts the Dallas Stars on Monday at Lenovo Center and will hold a morning skate.
The Hurricanes on Sunday recalled goalie Yaniv Perets from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
The Canes also said forward Seth Jarvis had been activated off injured reserve after missing the past seven games with an upper-body injury. Jarvis should be available Monday against the Stars.
Kochetkov’s injury came in overtime as Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski was carrying the puck to the net. Walker, to the inside of Werenski, tried to drive him wide of the post when he ran into Kochetkov, who had moved to his right and was pokechecking the puck when he was hit in the head by Walker.
Kochetkov fell to the ice behind the net as Canes trainer Doug Bennett quickly came out to assist. After a few moments, Bennett helped Kochetkov back to the bench and then to the training room.
“It didn’t look too good,” Canes defenseman Jalen Chatfield said after the game. “I hope it’s not as bad as it looked. He took a pretty hard hit.”
Spencer Martin, called up from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves with Andersen out, took over in net for the remainder of the OT and the shootout. The Blue Jackets’ Sean Monahan had the only shootout goal as Columbus won, 5-4.
Kochetkov, 25, sustained a concussion in January of this year after a collision in net with forward Isac Lundestrom of the Anaheim Ducks. That came at a time when Andersen was dealing with a blood-clotting issue that kept him out a big chunk of the 2023-24 season — the Canes started veteran goalie Antti Raanta and recalled Perets as the backup.
Kochetkov was placed in the concussion protocol in January and missed eight games.
Kochetkov missed a game this season with an unspecified injury, again suffered after a collision with Walker during a road game at Utah. Martin entered the Utah game and started the next.
Martin, 29, was claimed on waivers from Columbus last season and was a valuable addition, playing six games and going 4-1-1.. He now has appeared in five games this season and took the loss Saturday despite not giving up a goal in regulation or the OT.
The loss at Columbus was a tough one for the Canes, who had 4-3 lead late in regulation but had the Blue Jackets tie the score with a sixth attacker. The Canes had some chances to win the game in overtime before the Kochetkov injury.
This story was originally published November 24, 2024 at 10:12 AM.
