SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes switched goalies for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, starting Pyotr Kochetkov in net against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
It worked. For two periods, anyway.
Kochetkov gave up five goals in the third period, and the Panthers turned a tie game into a rout. Florida won 6-2, taking a 3-0 lead in the East title series.
“I can’t blame him. He kept us in there," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I mean, it wasn’t a ton of work. It's not like we’re giving up tons and tons of shots, but when we did, especially early, and he was good. And then the third period was what it was.”
Kochetkov — who finished Saturday with 22 saves on 28 shots — played the third period of Game 2, stopping four of the five shots he faced in Carolina's 5-0 loss. The Hurricanes were outscored 10-2 in the first two games of the series, with Frederik Andersen giving up nine goals on just 36 shots.
Brind'Amour said he made the switch for Saturday to “just change the vibe a little bit.”
“I don’t blame Freddie on any of the goals that went in," Brind'Amour said. "Obviously, save percentage is not great, if you look at that. We do need some saves, but I can’t blame him on any. All the goals have been great shots or plays by them.”
Kochetkov has started just over half of Carolina’s games over the last two seasons, going a combined 50-29-7 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .903 save percentage.
The Hurricanes took him with a second-round pick in the 2019 draft and he made his NHL debut for the club late in the 2021-22 season.
Saturday’s game against Florida was his 10th playoff appearance and fourth postseason start.
”He's a kid that we’ve had in there all year," Brind'Amour said. "And he played well for us, so that’s why.”
Kochetkov went 2-0-0 in two previous starts against Florida, both in the regular season. He had a 45-save shutout against the Panthers on Feb. 22, 2024, and stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 win in Sunrise on Jan. 2.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
