Rookie goalie Pyotr Kochetkov of the Carolina Hurricanes won his NHL debut Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, not that he had anything to say about it after the game.
Kochetkov speaks no English, but he will have a lot to tell his family and friends in Russia about the way the Canes pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory after a third-period rally.
The Canes trailed 2-0 in the third period, but Brady Skjei's score with 4:36 left in regulation and then a goal by Nino Niederreiter with 1:56 left tied it. Skejii had his shot go off a New Jersey defender while Niederreiter knocked in a rebound.
It was on to overtime and Seth Jarvis, who had the game-winner Thursday against Winnipeg, did it again, taking a pass from Tony DeAngelo and ripping a shot past the Devils' Jon Gillies at 1:39 of OT.
Jarvis, with a smile, said Kochetkov "muttered out thank you" in the locker room after the game.
The victory lifted the Canes (51-20-8) to 110 points as Carolina and the New York Rangers continue to battle for the Metropolitan Division title. The Rangers, who have 108 points, faced the Boston Bruins later Saturday.
Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour noted Kochetkov made two quality saves after the Devils had taken a 2-0 lead. One came on a third-period breakaway by Jesper Boqvist.
"He'll remember this game forever," Brind'Amour said.
The Canes believe they could have something special in the 6-foot-3, 205-pound goalie from Penza, Russia. He was their fifth pick in the second round of 2019 NHL draft, 36th overall, and he has experience this season both in Russia's KHL and the American Hockey League after coming to the Chicago Wolves.
After the lower-body injury suffered by goalie Frederik Andersen last week at Colorado, Kochetkov was recalled from Chicago on an emergency basis. With the Canes playing the Devils and Islanders in a back-to-back, the decision was made to give Kochetkov the start Saturday.
"We'll go with the kid," Brind'Amour said Saturday morning. "We'll give him a shot and see what he's all about."
After his first time on the ice with Kochetkov, Canes goalie Antti Raanta gave his first impression of the new guy.
"A little bit of a Russian mix of Vasilevskiy and Bobrovsky," Raanta said.
All Raanta did was compare Kochetkov, who is 22 years old, with Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers. Two former Vezina Trophy winners. Talk about setting the bar high.
He said it with smile. But it wasn't in jest.
Another quick scouting report:
"Just dynamic, big kid, covers a lot of net, can move quick east/west, good hands," Canes goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder said this week. "He's a big presence in net.
"He's dynamic. A lot of these Russia-born goalies you see in the league, they have this dynamic edge to them. They're not cookie-cutter. They can get outside that technical box and he has the ability to do that."
The Canes players seem to like him, calling him "Pete" or "Peter." Andrei Svechnikov has helped him as best he can — Svechnikov as a translator in an interesting role reversal.
"Svech is taking him under his wing," defenseman Brady Skjei said.
Kochetkov also appears to have some fire to his game.
In a limited practice Friday at PNC Arena, Kochetkov made some nice saves but also gave up a few goals he didn't like. After one, he barked out something in Russian that probably was not "nice shot." On another, he pounded the puck with his glove, as if tying to beat it into the ice, before getting to his feet and ripping it the length of the rink.
Schonfelder said in one of the Wolves games, Kochetkov skated toward the Iowa bench to do some chirping, noting, "He's got passion for sure and hopefully we see a little of that when his time comes here."
The game Saturday marked the second time the Canes used a rookie goalie at New Jersey this season. Jack LaFontaine was given his first NHL start Jan. 22, not long after signing a contract with Carolina and agreeing to leave the University of Minnesota.
It did not go well. The Canes lost, 7-4, and LaFontaine allowed all seven goals on 38 shots. Brind'Amour, perhaps trying to soften the blow, said, "The group in front of him wasn't very good," but LaFontaine didn't seem ready for it, either.
And Kochetkov?
He was 13-1-1 in the AHL before the call-up. He was the league's rookie of the month in March, helping the Wolves clinch another Central Division title in the AHL.
Brind'Amour, also in jest, said he has not tried to have much conversation with Kochetkov but said he only needed three words: "Stop the puck."
