Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov to make first start in 46 games

He’s back.

Ahead of the team’s final game of the 2025-26 regular season on Tuesday night, Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour revealed that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov will be between the pipes against the New York Islanders.

It will be the first time Kochetkov has appeared in an NHL game since Dec. 20, as he has missed the Hurricanes’ past 46 games due to a lower-body injury, which would require surgery. He won’t be ice cold coming into the game. He spent this past weekend with Carolina’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, on a conditioning stint. After giving up a goal on eight shots against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night, the Russian netminder stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced on Sunday against the Rockford IceHogs.

While Kochetkov has been on the shelf, the Hurricanes have relied on rookie Brandon Bussi and Frederik Andersen. Bussi had an incredible start to his first season, but while the former Western Michigan Bronco has piled on the victories, with his 30 victories placing him fourth in the NHL, his play has been topsy-turvy at times, with a save percentage that has dipped below .900. Andersen hasn’t been much better, going 15-14-5 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .871 SV%.

Despite the lackluster play between the pipes, Carolina has remained one of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division and the entire conference. The team has clinched its fourth division title in the past six seasons, as well as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history.

In just nine appearances this season, Kochetkov has a record of 6-2-0, with a 2.33 goals-against average, a .899 save percentage and a shutout. It’ll be interesting to see how his performance on Tuesday could determine who’s the starter for Game 1 of the playoffs.