Kochetkov, Hurricanes defeat Kings for fourth straight win

LOS ANGELES --Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves, and the Carolina Hurricanes won their fourth straight game with a 4-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Kochetkov has eight wins through his first 10 NHL starts (8-1-3), the most in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history.
"He's been huge for us, you know, for our organization," Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov said. "Yeah, he's just so confident and calm. I feel like he's just getting better and better every game."
Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and Brent Burns had two assists for the Hurricanes (14-6-5), who had lost five straight prior to their winning streak.
"We did a great job today playing our system," Svechnikov said. "Just from D-zone to the offensive zone, we were moving the puck pretty fast, so that's why I think we were successful tonight."

Samuel Fagemo scored his first NHL goal for the Kings (13-10-4), who had their four-game point streak end (2-0-2). Jonathan Quick made 27 saves.
"The ones that got away on us ended up in the net, and it wasn't the goaltender's issue. It was ours," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "… The ones that got away on them, we came close but not close enough."
Brady Skjei put Carolina in front 1-0 at 4:01 of the first period when he received a pass from Jordan Martinook on a 2-on-1, cut back across the slot on Quick, and scored with a backhand into an open net.
Martinook had started the rush by breaking up a play in his own zone and chipping the puck ahead to himself in the neutral zone.
Necas made it 2-0 at 19:41, scoring a power-play goal from the top of the right circle with Kochetkov off for an extra skater during a delayed penalty.
The Hurricanes went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage and are 6-for-15 in their past five games.
"Our mentality right now is shoot it to the net because before we were struggling a little bit with that," Svechnikov said. "Right now, we're just try to make a simple play."

Sebastian Aho pushed the lead to 3-0 at 14:11 of the second period when he controlled a backdoor pass from Necas with his backhand before tucking the puck into the open net with his forehand.
Arthur Kaliyev scored on a one-timer from the right circle to pull Los Angeles to within 3-1 at 9:31 of the third period. Seven of his nine goals this season have come on the power play.
"Third period, sat back a little and got in a little bit of penalty trouble, you know," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They definitely had a good push there."
Svechnikov put Carolina back up 4-1 at 12:10 when his pass through the slot deflected in off Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty.
Fagemo, who was playing in his sixth game, scored at 17:25 for the 4-2 final.
"It's kind of an 'I've arrived' marker, that and that first lap when you play your first game," McLellan said. "So Sammy's arrived. I thought he had a good strong game tonight."
NOTES:Only six goaltenders in NHL history have won more games through 10 starts than Kochetkov: Igor Shesterkin, Viktor Fasth, Martin Prusek, Bob Froese, Wayne Thomas, and Frank Brimsek each won nine. …Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen had two shots in 15:47 of ice time in his return after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. … Necas has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. … Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists). … Kings defenseman Alexander Edler did not play because of an illness. McLellan said Edler would have been scratched for rest before he got sick.