Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov saw his scoreless streak come to an end on Thursday night, but he still managed to secure a win as the Hurricanes defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-2.
Andrei Svechnikov and Derek Stepan found the net in the first period, while Stefan Noesen scored in the second on his first career penalty shot.
Kochetkov, who held a scoreless streak of over 151 minutes, made 15 saves, earning his sixth win in the team’s last seven games. Carolina extended their points streak to nine games with a near-flawless performance.
“We were sharp and all over it,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong scored for Seattle, with Philipp Grubauer making 36 saves. The Kraken ended their four-game road trip with a 1-3-0 record.
“We knew what this stretch looked like,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’re disappointed to go home with two points out of the eight (possible) points.”
Svechnikov scored unassisted at 10:10 into the game after a costly Seattle turnover. Stepan, netting his first goal of the season, scored with 2:08 left in the opening period, ending a 25-game goal drought.
“It’s a confidence thing. It’s always nice to score,” Stepan said. “It definitely builds that momentum a little bit. If you really start to beat yourself up, it just gets worse. I think there was a stretch where it was for me.”
Stepan, who had over 11 minutes of ice time for the first time since Nov. 9, contributed in other areas, according to Brind’Amour.
“If you’re doing it right, eventually, it’s going to go in for you,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s not playing many minutes, and I’m not expecting him to score many goals.”
Noesen scored on a penalty shot, a first for the Hurricanes since March 2017, with a powerful slapshot.
“I don’t think anyone is going to stop that one,” Noesen said.
The second period also featured Kochetkov’s save on a breakaway by Sprong before Donato redirected a shot to score at 11:26, ending Kochetkov’s scoreless streak at 151 minutes, 26 seconds. This achievement set a franchise record for the longest scoreless streak by a rookie goalie.
Sprong reduced the margin to one goal with 10:46 remaining in the game.
Grubauer was a surprise starter for the Kraken after Martin Jones was scratched.
“He battled hard,” Hakstol said. “He allowed us to stay within striking distance in this game. … We stayed with it. We didn’t come apart. We didn’t try to start doing things ourselves or get off the page.”
The Hurricanes dominated with a 27-11 shot advantage through two periods.
Both teams were 0 for 2 on power plays, a concerning statistic for the Kraken, who are 1-for-18 on power plays over the last six games.
“We had, in the second period tonight, outstanding opportunities early in the power play and didn’t sustain it to the next group coming out,” Hakstol said.
ICE MATTERS
Stepan, a 13-year NHL veteran, has scored against all 32 active NHL teams. … Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho missed his third game with a lower-body injury, but forward Jesper Fast returned after a two-game absence. … Seattle’s Yanni Gourde had an assist on his 31st birthday, just as he did seven years earlier in his only other NHL game played on his birthday.
UP NEXT
Kraken: Host Winnipeg on Sunday.
Hurricanes: Host Dallas on Saturday.
