Kochetkov Wins Ninth Straight to Start the Season as Hurricanes Set Franchise Mark

Pyotr Kochetkov does not want to talk about the record, which is convenient, because the record now talks for itself. The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender made 24 saves in a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, moving to 9-0-0 and setting a franchise record for wins to open a season. He passed Frederik Andersen’s mark of eight from 2021-22, and he did it on a Halloween night in Raleigh that ended with candy in the stands and a goalie hug line with its own callback joke.

How did Kochetkov break the record?

By holding on in the third period, when the game finally pushed back. Carolina built its lead in stages: Jordan Martinook scored late in the first period off a deflection, Logan Stankoven made it 2-0 in the second with his team-leading ninth goal of the season, and Mark Jankowski scored 16 seconds into the third for a 3-0 cushion, NHL.com reports. Columbus then scored twice in a span of 2:54 through Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson, and nine of Kochetkov’s 24 saves came in that final period as the Hurricanes steadied and closed out the win.

The record itself puts Kochetkov in a small group. NHL.com reports he is just the fourth goaltender in league history to begin a season with a winning streak of nine games or more, joining Jack Campbell with 11 for Toronto in 2020-21, Carey Price with 10 for Montreal in 2016-17 and Felix Potvin with nine for Toronto in 1993-94. He is also the third goaltender in franchise history to win nine games in a row at any point in a season, after Cam Ward in 2008-09 and Brandon Bussi twice in 2025-26. The next step is a number no Hurricanes goaltender has ever reached: 10 straight wins at any point in a season.

Why does this start mean more than the numbers?

Because of where Kochetkov was a year ago. NHL.com reported before this season that he went 287 days between NHL games, and he was limited to nine appearances last season before hip surgery. The question hanging over him was never talent. Coach Rod Brind’Amour said it plainly after the Columbus win: the talent has been visible for years, health has always been the issue, and Kochetkov’s game is maturing.

The numbers back up the coach. Through nine starts this season Kochetkov has a 1.66 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout, and he has allowed two goals or fewer in all but one outing, NHL.com reports. The Hockey Writers adds a quieter milestone from the same night: the win was Kochetkov’s 80th in the NHL, reached in 134 games, the fourth-fewest games to that mark. A goalie coming back from a lost season is not supposed to start like this, which is why the start has become the story of Carolina’s October rather than a footnote to it.

What made the night itself so Carolina?

The Halloween game always comes with extras, and this one delivered them. Sportsnaut reports the Hurricanes tossed candy into the stands before the Storm Surge and the hug circle, and the broadcast kept finding a fan in a costume themed on Martinook’s ‘Meals with Marty’ vlog. When a tripping call went against Sebastian Aho, the cameras found a man behind the bench in a ‘blind referee’ uniform, which the Hurricanes’ own network account called broadcasting gold.

The best moment came last. In the goalie hug line, Nicolas Deslauriers genuflected to Kochetkov, Sportsnaut reports, echoing Kochetkov’s own kneel to Deslauriers after a game against Vancouver in which Deslauriers scored twice. It was a joke between teammates that only works if you know the reference, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes a record night feel like a team night rather than a stat line.

How good has Carolina been overall?

Good enough that the team record matched the goalie record. Sportsnaut reports the win was Carolina’s 11th in October, tying the NHL record for most wins in a single October. The Hurricanes have won 11 of their last 13 games, and they sit on top of the league standings in the early season. That context matters for Kochetkov’s streak: he is not stealing wins for a struggling team, he is backstopping a team that is already rolling, and his starts have become the games Carolina expects to win.

It also sharpens the workload question. Kochetkov has now started three games in a row, and the Hurricanes have ridden him through the record chase. A nine-game winning streak to open a season is a wonderful problem, but it is still a workload problem, and November will test whether Carolina keeps riding the hot hand or starts managing it.

What happens next?

Sunday, against Winnipeg. NHL.com reports the Hurricanes practice on Saturday and host the Jets on Sunday, November 1, at 1 p.m. ET, a Kids Day game at Lenovo Center. That is Kochetkov’s next chance at a 10th straight win, a number no Hurricanes goaltender has ever reached at any point in a season.

Kochetkov, for his part, will try not to think about it. He told reporters after tying Andersen’s mark that he does not dwell on the record unless someone mentions it after every game, that the season is long at 84 games, and that he worries more about the quality of his game. It is a good line from a goalie who has given his team nine straight reasons not to worry about his. The streak ends eventually, as every streak does. The question Sunday is whether Winnipeg ends it, or whether Kochetkov gets to keep not thinking about it for one more game.

For the other end of the goalie spectrum this month, Semyon Varlamov’s first start in 676 days after two knee replacements shows what a comeback can look like, while Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending absence shows how quickly a crease can change hands. Carolina’s crease, for now, belongs to a goalie who spent 287 days waiting for it, and to a Hurricanes team that just locked up Alexander Nikishin for one more year.