RALEIGH, NC. -The Carolina Hurricanes may be without goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for some time.
Forced out of Thursday's win over Anaheim during the second period after Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom was pushed into him, Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour shared to the media today that the 24-year-old is in concussion protocol.
A tough blow at any time, the sideling comes after what had been a superb month for Carolina's up-and-coming backstop.
Since December 12, Kochetkov was 7-1-2 with a .924 save percentage, perhaps the best stretch of his young career to date.
The team will now be forced to turn to Antti Raanta for Saturday's game against Pittsburgh and potentially beyond. Prospect Yaniv Perets will be recalled for the second time in a month on Friday, having backed up Kochetkov for a handful of games in late December.
Perets has a .906 save percentage with the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL this season and is the only option at the moment after Aaron Dell, who was brought in on a free agent tryout last month, has since joined the American Hockey League's Ontario Reign.
As for Raanta, he is 2-0-1 with a .913 save percentage since being recalled after the holiday break.
Although he struggled for a portion of November and December, the team is hoping he can return to the form that's allowed him to go 27-3-3 at PNC Arena over three seasons.
Carolina's next four games will come at home as their current six-game home stretch rolls along Saturday and then Monday against Los Angeles. The team's next back-to-back set won't come until January 24-25 against Boston and New Jersey.
