Point Streak Moves To Six Games In Pittsburgh

Kochetkov and the penalty kill impress again, but the Penguins take the skills competition win

By Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff Hurricanes.com

December 22, 2023

PITTSBURGH, PA. - The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a point in the standings on Thursday, but ultimately fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout, 2-1.

Time to work 💪 pic.twitter.com/A8qg4fet9K
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 21, 2023

Tight Start...

Playing in their final road game before the holiday break, the Canes arrived in the Steel City having earned points in their previous five contests.

Going back to Pyotr Kochetkov in net, who earned wins in three of those five games, #52 was looking to respond after allowing two late goals in the team's 6-3 win over Vegas on Tuesday.

While he wouldn't have a ton of work in the first period, one of the Penguins' five shots was able to beat him, a redirection off the tape of Sidney Crosby.

So often we see Carolina's forecheck leading to success for them, but this time it was Pittsburgh's pressure in the attacking end producing the 19th goal of the season for their superstar.

It's always suboptimal to give up the game-opening tally, but a nice job by both PK and the #Canes PK in the moments following.

Pittsburgh had two chances to quickly double their lead and really put Carolina behind the eight ball, but instead, it remains a one-goal contest. pic.twitter.com/NPhsNjIOmj
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) December 22, 2023

Responded Accordingly...

After the two teams combined for just nine shots in the second period, it felt like Carolina had their work cut out for them in terms of generating offense. Pittsburgh has been kings of playing tight games all season long, scoring just 86 goals in 30 games (27th, NHL) and allowing 83 in the same amount (9th-fewest, NHL).

The Canes nearly took themselves out of the contest in the second frame, taking three minor penalties over the course of 20 minutes, but thankfully the penalty kill held the group in the contest.

Improving to 33-for-34 since December 1 (97.0%) by the end of the night, Tim Gleason's units bought time for Carolina to eventually find the equalizer, coming from Teuvo Teravainen with just 5:08 to go in the stanza.

Catching a bunch of tired Penguins on the ice after a chance-creating shift from Michael Bunting and Martin Necas forced the home side to ice the puck, #86 put a routine shot on net from the wing, catching the pads of Alex Nedeljkovic and then the skate of Kris Letang before going in.

CAR@PIT: Teravainen scores goal against Alex Nedeljkovic

Calm, Cool, Kochetkov...

Taking a 1-1 game to the third, Kochetkov's game was built with nine saves during the middle stanza. That turned out to be a sample for what was ahead in the final 20 minutes of regulation, undoubtedly his best stretch of the night.

Coming up with key stops on Radim Zahorna and Jake Guentzel en route to getting the game to overtime, this evening's performance was another one that left fans feeling confident with the 24-year-old future in net.

As Nedeljkovic made six saves at the other end of the night, the Canes' season-long point streak extended to six games as they went to their second extra session in three games.

Pyotr comes up big again! pic.twitter.com/RiYA3cJnwQ
— Bally Sports: Canes (@CanesOnBally) December 22, 2023

Bonus Time & The Skills Competition...

After the Washington Capitals made Sunday's overtime feel like a slog of five minutes, tonight's three-on-three couldn't have been more opposite. With no shortage of tense moments, Kochetkov was needed for three more stops, all of which came while shorthanded.

After Andrei Svechnikov was called for a hold, the penalty kill had one last gasp in their five-for-five evening, sending the contest to a shootout.

In the skills competition, there was just one goal, and it came via Crosby finding twine for the second time.

The PK was impressive pic.twitter.com/qHeNBb6dUD
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 22, 2023

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour sharing his thoughts on the contest and what made it difficult to create offense...

"[Pittsburgh] played hard. They blocked a lot of shots. They were in the lanes, we were in the box. We couldn't get any flow going. The third period we were a little flat just because a lot of guys hadn't got going."

Brind'Amour continuing on Kochetkov's 24/25 night...

"He was solid. He made a lot of great saves. He allowed us to have a chance and that's what he's done here lately."

Jack Drury showing love to the shorthanded units...

"The penalty kill did an unbelievable job getting us that point. They had five big kills, [including] the one in overtime. I think a lot of credit goes to [them] today."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to practice on Friday at Invisalign Arena. They will return to game action on Saturday at home against the New York Islanders.