Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov to miss time with undisclosed injury
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour told media members including team reporter Walt Ruff on Tuesday that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is out with an undisclosed injury.
Brind’Amour shared that Kochetkov “just doesn’t feel right” and added that the injury is related to the same one that kept him out of action from the start of the regular season until early November.
Post-practice updates from Rod Brind'Amour:
• Jordan Staal is still sick, and K'Andre Miller got banged up on Sunday. He's hopeful that both can play tomorrow vs. NYR.
• Pyotr Kochetkov (undisclosed injury) won't play tomorrow. He said again that the goaltender "just… pic.twitter.com/mHEdSAcsPs
Kochetkov missed the first month of the season while Frederik Andersen split the net with waiver claim Brandon Bussi, who has remained with the team even since Kochetkov returned due to his own strong performance as well as the likelihood of Andersen or Kochetkov missing time again combined with the risk of losing Bussi to waivers if the team opted to carry the more-conventional two goaltenders.
The young Russian netminder earned a shutout in his first start of the season, and he’s put up a stat line to this point that includes a 4-0-0 record with a .926 save percentage and 1.76 goals against average.
Andersen has struggled to the tune of a .881 SV% and 3.07 GAA, while Bussi has been solid with a .897 SV% and 2.67 GAA.
Many teams have battled numerous injuries so far in the young season, and the Hurricanes are no exception. Star defenseman Jaccob Slavin still has not played after appearing in the first two games of the year, and four of the team’s regular defensemen have missed somewhat significant time, as has depth call-up Charles-Alexis Legault on the backend.
Brind’Amour shared that K’Andre Miller is questionable for Wednesday’s game against the New York Rangers after a minor injury in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres, and Jordan Staal did not skate Tuesday after missing Sunday’s game with an illness.
Despite the lack of continuity in the lineup, the Hurricanes occupy first place in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference with a record of 14-6-2.