- Pyotr Kochetkov made 14 saves in a 2-1 win over the Bruins to improve to 8-0-0
- He matched the franchise record for a goalie’s season-opening winning streak set by Frederik Andersen
- Read below for how Sebastian Aho broke the tie and what Kochetkov said about the run
Pyotr Kochetkov is still perfect.
The Hurricanes goalie made 14 saves Tuesday night in a 2-1 win over the Bruins to improve to 8-0-0, matching the longest season-opening winning streak by a goalie in franchise history. He tied Frederik Andersen, who set the mark five years ago.
Kochetkov was asked about the streak afterward and shrugged it off.
“It’s just my job, I don’t know what to say,” Kochetkov said. “If you don’t tell me (about the streak) after every game, I don’t think about it much. My focus is more about the quality of my game.”
Watch the highlights from Raleigh:
Boston scored first. Pavel Zacha tapped in a Pastrnak-to-Lindholm feed on the power play at 1:31 of the first period. Jackson Blake tied it with 52 seconds left in the period after Nikolaj Ehlers stripped the puck below the goal line.
Sebastian Aho won it at 10:19 of the third. William Carrier tipped a pass from Andrei Svechnikov, and Aho chipped a backhand under Jeremy Swayman’s blocker. Swayman stopped 28 shots.
Carolina then killed two minor penalties in the final 4:41. Jaccob Slavin gave the credit to the penalty kill and the goalie.
“That’s our game. We want to shut down those opportunities,” Slavin said. “It was a great unit of four, and ‘Koochie’ made some great saves at the end too.”
The loss ended Boston’s eight-game point streak. The Bruins (9-3-1) had gone 7-0-1 over that stretch. The Hurricanes moved to 10-2-2 on the season.
Last season was a different story for Kochetkov. A hip problem limited him to nine games, and he talked about that stretch in our earlier story on his start. He now owns a share of the best opening run by a goalie in Hurricanes history.
There was bad news for Carolina off the ice. Taylor Hall was expected to return after five games out, but he left the morning skate with a different injury. Rod Brind’Amour said Hall will “be out for a little bit.”
Carolina hosts Columbus on Thursday with a chance to make it nine.
