Pyotr Kochetkov made 22 saves and recorded two assists as the Carolina Hurricanes overcame an early deficit to defeat the New York Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Kochetkov revealed that this was his first two-point game at any level. He previously registered an assist in a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on October 24.
“We needed some offense,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ll take it from anybody.”
William Carrier, Jack Roslovic, and Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina, and the team went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, limiting the Rangers to just four shots on goal. Roslovic’s power-play goal ended New York’s streak of 20 consecutive successful penalty kills.
Carolina (21-11-1) snapped a five-game road losing streak (0-4-1).
“It was a tough start, first shot, first goal, but after that we had a couple of good blocked shots and saves,” Kochetkov said.
“In the second period, I think there were no chances for the Rangers. We controlled the game, controlled the puck, and had a lot of shots. In the last period, we had good penalty killing and teamwork.”
The Rangers scored first when Jimmy Vesey found the net just 17 seconds into the game, but New York went silent after that. Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves in the loss.
New York (16-16-1) had beaten the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Friday, but the team has not won consecutive games since a three-game streak from Nov. 14-19. The Rangers have also lost four straight games at home.
“It was a good start, and then it just slowly slipped away from us,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “We couldn’t get it back after that.”
Vesey opened the scoring when he led a rush, passed the puck to Chad Ruhwedel, and then went to the net. Ruhwedel returned the puck to Vesey, who redirected it into the net past Kochetkov.
“Well, it wasn’t even a bad shift,” Brind’Amour said. “We got in there, we were on it, but we just missed the puck and they made a nice play.
You’ve got to tip your hat to them. The defenseman activated, we didn’t pick him up, and they put it in. It was a good play by them, but after that, especially in the second period, we were pretty dialed in.”
Carrier tied the game 1-1 at 9:14 of the second period, scoring nine seconds after a Carolina power play expired. Jaccob Slavin’s shot from the right faceoff circle hit the post, and Carrier, who had inside position on Braden Schneider, tapped in the rebound.
“It was the end of a power play, so it’s kind of still a power-play goal because their guy hadn’t gotten into the play yet,” Brind’Amour said. “But he was at the net, and that’s what you have to do to score goals.”
The Rangers were two seconds away from killing a four-minute double minor penalty on Alexis Lafreniere for high-sticking Roslovic and causing his two front teeth to chip.
However, Roslovic, who briefly left the game after the high stick, scored to give Carolina a 2-1 lead on the power play at 14:32. He redirected a pass from Dmitry Orlov off the left-wing half-wall into the right post.
“‘Orly’ made a great pass,” Roslovic said. “I think I was thinking about my teeth.”
Brind’Amour added, “It’s funny how that happens, over the years you get guys who have something bad happen to them, and they end up being the ones who make the difference in the game. It’s hockey. He looks like a hockey player now, that’s for sure.”
Carolina outshot New York 16-8 in the second period.
“We didn’t get the puck to the next level in the second period,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought the battles went their way.
One goal on the power play, one from a guy coming out of the box, and that’s the difference in the game. I thought they were better than us in the second period.”
Kochetkov preserved the lead in the third period with key stops, including a save on Artemi Panarin’s open shot from the left circle at 3:43 and Vincent Trocheck’s tap-in attempt from the front at 4:11. He also made a cross-crease save on Reilly Smith’s backdoor one-timer at 4:31.
Aho sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:18, making it 3-1.
“Well, he was good,” Brind’Amour said of Kochetkov. “It was a tough start. We gave up a weird one right off the bat where they made a nice play, but after that, he was solid. He made a lot of good backdoor saves, especially on their power play. They had a few good looks, and he was great for us.”
