RALEIGH, N.C. — Pyotr Kochetkov will make his third career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Carolina Hurricanes, who will try to advance against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MAX, MSGSN, TBS, TVAS2, SN360).
Kochetkov will replace Frederik Andersen, who made six saves on seven shots before leaving Game 4 because of an undisclosed injury at 4:19 of the second period after being knocked over by Devils forward Timo Meier.
Kochetkov made 14 saves in a 5-2 win to help the Hurricanes take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
“We definitely would have considered putting [Kochetkov] in this game anyway,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s played half the games this year. I think this isn’t like you’re putting in a guy that we don’t trust or hasn’t played a ton of games for us. We have a lot of faith in him.”
Kochetkov was 27-16-3 with a 2.60 goal-against average, .898 save percentage and two shutouts in 47 games during the regular season, in large part because of Andersen missing 39 games following knee surgery Nov. 22.
In seven career playoff games (two starts), Kochetkov is 1-4 with a 3.73 GAA and .870 save percentage.
“He’s a real confident player,” Brind’Amour said of Kochetkov. “Of all the guys I’ve seen over the years, he’s very good about just moving on and playing the same way. His game doesn’t really change. He’s an aggressive goalie for sure. He’s suited well for the position.”
Carolina is 7-0 when leading a best-of-7 series 3-1, including 6-0 when starting at home. New Jersey is 1-11 when trailing a best-of-7 series 3-1; the Devils’ only win was against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 Eastern Conference Final.
“The message to the team is win one hockey game,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “There’s only one game on the schedule and that’s where all our energy and focus needs to be. We need to recognize the urgency and challenges that’s ahead of us, not to win the series but to win tonight in this building against this team and accept that but also take the confidence that we had from our last time in here (a 3-1 loss in Game 2), that we can compete and can play.”
Teams that lead 3-1 in a best-of-7 series have an all-time series record of 316-32 (.908), including a 208-17 (.924) mark when starting at home.
Here is a breakdown of Game 5:
Devils: Defensemen Johnathan Kovacevic, Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon each is out because of an undisclosed injury; Kovacevic was injured during the first period of a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 3, and Hughes and Dillon each were injured during a 3-1 loss in Game 2. In addition, defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Brett Pesce each will be a game-time decision for undisclosed reasons after not taking part in New Jersey’s morning skate. The Devils will need to find a way to generate more from their power play, which is 0-for-12 with 14 shots on goal through four games. “We’re practicing it, talking about it,” forward Jesper Bratt said. “We kind of know how to break it down. We’ve just got to execute a little bit better.” Dougie Hamilton, who ranked second among New Jersey defensemen with 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) in 64 games during the regular season, has one assist and eight shots on goal in four playoff games.
Hurricanes: Carolina returns home, where it outscored New Jersey 7-2 in Games 1-2 and finished 31-9-1 during the regular season to match the Carolina/Hartford Whalers record for home wins in a season set in 2005-06 (31-8-2) on the way to their first Stanley Cup championship. Center Sebastian Aho (one goal, four assists) and forward Andrei Svechnikov (four goals, one assist) share the Hurricanes scoring lead with five points each in the series; Aho had two assists in Game 4, and Svechnikov scored his second NHL postseason hat trick in that 5-2 win on Sunday. “It’s just excitement; you feel good every game,” Svechnikov said. “I feel like that’s what I needed. Just forget the [regular] season and play your game. I think that’s my time right now.” Carolina has received four goals from defensemen, one each from Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns, and Chatfield is a team-best plus-4.
Number to know: 0. Number of power-play goals allowed by the Hurricanes in 12 times short-handed during the series.
What to look for: Can the Devils play with the urgency and structure needed to extend the series? Will Kochetkov make the timely saves needed for the Hurricanes to be victorious?
