Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov returns from concussion, but Canes fall to Kraken

Pyotr Kochetkov was the first player on the ice Monday before a Carolina Hurricanes practice at Lenovo Center, the goalie loudly shouting, “I’m b-aaaak!”

Back from a concussion. Back ready to play again.

After missing four games, Kochetkov was in net Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, getting a big hand from Canes fans when the starting lineup was announced.

Not that it was a successful return. The Kraken took a 4-2 victory Tuesday, handing the Canes a third straight loss.

Yanni Gourde’s goal, the winger knocking in a shot in front of the crease, gave Seattle a 3-2 lead with 9:12 left in regulation. That came 46 seconds after the Canes (16-8-1) had a Jack Drury goal overturned by a successful coach’s challenge for goaltender interference — a decision that had the home fans loudly booing.

Kraken goalie Joey Daccord was nudged by Canes forward Eric Robinson outside the crease, then moved back to his right and seemed to be in position as Drury got off a sharp-angle shot. But the ruling was no-goal.

“We all know this goalie interference thing is very subjective,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We just seem to end up on the wrong end of them, and that’s a little bit frustrating,.”

Seattle’s Brandon Tanev made it a 4-2 lead with five minutes left, beating the Canes down ice and then beating Kochetkov.

The Kraken outshot the Canes 29-16 — the fewest shots by Carolina team under Brind’Amour — and blocked 24 shots. Carolina, usually a high-volume shot team, had two shots in the second period.

“Usually we outshoot teams and we’re in their end basically the whole game,” said Canes winger Martin Necas, who had a goal and assist. “But we never got to our game.”

Necas scored on the Canes’ only power play for a 2-2 tie in the third. Crossing the Seattle blue line at full speed, he took a pass from Sebastian Aho and beat Daccord with a forehand for his 13th goal of the season.

Until the third period, the Kraken (12-13-1), which had lost three straight, were the quicker team — to the puck, out of their zone, getting shots, blocking Canes shots. The Hurricanes did kill off two Seattle power plays in the second, but appeared a step slow too much of a game that had few whistles.

“The first two periods we just didn’t get anything going,” Brind’Amour said. “We fought back a little bit but you can’t play two periods like that. Credit them. They played a good game and we stunk.”

Seattle’s Jaden Schwartz scored 19 seconds into the game. Robinson countered for the Canes later in the first off a Necas pass, but Seattle took a 2-1 lead in the second period on Eeli Tolvanen’s rebound score.

Kochetkov was beaten for a goal on the first shot he saw since his injury as Schwartz broke in past defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Dmitry Orlov.

After the Canes tied it on Robinson’s goal off a Martin Necas pass, Kochetkov made a sliding save against Tolvanen to keep it 1-1 and late in the first period a quick pokecheck on Chandler Stephenson.

“He was good,” Brind’Amour said of Kochetkov. “He had to make some good saves. He was not our issue, that’s for sure.”

With Frederik Andersen sidelined for a few months following knee surgery, the Canes are in a tenuous position with their goaltending. They badly needed a quick return by Kochetkov, who had a 10-2-0 record before Tuesday and won seven straight games in one stretch.

Kochetkov was his feisty self during the Monday practice, moving well, making his pokechecks, doing some good-natured jawing.

“He had the mojo going,” Brind’Amour said.

It was Kochetkov’s attempt at a pokecheck in the Nov. 23 game in Columbus that landed him in the concussion protocol. Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski was driving to the net and the Canes’ Sean Walker putting the body on Werenski when Walker collided with Kochetkov.

The goalie, hit in the head, fell behind the net and appeared to be knocked out for a few scary moments. Trainer Doug Bennett went out and helped Kochetkov off the ice.

Just like that the Canes were down two goalies and it was Spencer Martin’s net.

Martin won his first two starts after the Kochetkov injury, against Dallas and the New York Rangers. Then, the lost weekend against Florida — a 6-3 loss at home Friday and a 6-0 beating Saturday on the road as Martin allowed 10 goals on 57 shots in the back-to-back set.

Despite the concussion, Brind’Amour expected Kochetkov to remain aggressive in net, saying, “There’s going to be freaky things that happen in a game. Everyone talks about he’s too aggressive. That’s who he is. That’s the kind of goalie he has to be to be good.”

The Canes also added some goaltending insurance Monday, signing Dustin Tokarski to a one-year, two-way contract. Tokarski, 35, joined the Chicago Wolves on a professional tryout contract (PTO) and has posted a 4-1-0 record with a 1.61 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

Just as important: Tokarski had 80 games of NHL experience with five teams, playing 29 games for the Buffalo Sabres in 2021-22.

“It’s good to have extra pieces around,” Brind’Amour said.