Pyotr Kochetkov is on the heater of all heaters to begin the 2026-27 season. He has won all eight of his starts thus far after holding down the fort in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins. Kochetkov only faced 15 shots in the contest, allowing a power-play goal on the first one before stopping the next 14 that the Bruins threw at him.
The victory pulled Kochetkov into a tie with Frederik Andersen for the best start to a season in franchise history. Andersen's 8-0-0 run wasn't that long ago, so I wanted to take a look back at the beginning of his run with the Hurricanes in 2021. The times were a little different for the organization, but the run for Andersen was unlike anything we'd ever seen.
The Hurricanes experienced a massive change in the net after being eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. Alex Nedeljkovic, the team's starter for most of the postseason, was traded to Detroit, and both Petr Mrazek and James Reimer signed elsewhere, leaving the Canes with a massive hole to fill.
Desperate for help, the team signed Andersen and Antti Raanta, two players with known injury histories, to be their new tandem. Andersen was clearly brought in to be the team's starter, and he showed why right from the jump. He set the team up for early success on the road to their best regular season in franchise history.
Andersen's debut was rocky, but it didn't take long to settle in
Opening Night 2021 saw the Hurricanes host the New York Islanders, and Andersen drew the first assignment. His first goal against was a weird one. It looked like he made a rebound stop on Mathew Barzal, but the horn sounded two minutes later. A review showed that the shot completely crossed the line before Andersen kicked it out. It wasn't an ideal start to his Carolina tenure.
Fortunately, his offense was there to back him up. The Canes scored twice to take the lead into the second period. Brock Nelson tied it early in the second, but the Canes bounced back for two more. A rough rebound allowed the Islanders to pull within one before the third period, though that's as close as it got. Andersen finished his debut with 25 stops in a 6-3 victory.
While his debut might've been tough at times, it got much better from there. In Game #2, Andersen made 38 stops and outdueled Juuse Saros in a 3-2 win. In Games #3 and #4, Andersen stopped 27 shots against both Montreal and Columbus, completing a perfect road trip to extend his win streak to four games. However, a few personal tests loomed when he got back to Raleigh.
Wins against Toronto, Boston made Andersen an official part of the team
Coming off a successful road trip, Andersen got his first chance to face his former team. By all accounts, Andersen was well liked in the Toronto locker room, but he was a Hurricane now. Naturally, the Maple Leafs got an early goal from Auston Matthews. Meanwhile, the Canes' offense was nowhere to be found for 20 minutes. That didn't last very long.
Sebastian Aho brought the Canes even with a gorgeous tip. Just over two minutes later, Steven Lorentz outmuscled Rasmus Sandin to take the lead. Nino Niederreiter added the dagger late in the period. With one period, the Canes had their goalie's back, and Andersen refused to let anything else in. Matthews' wrap-around was the only blemish on a 24-save night as he bested his old squad.
The team's next opponent was another team that Andersen was very familiar with. Toronto lost in Game 7 of the first round to the Boston Bruins in 2018 and 2019, with Andersen starting both games. With his new team, he got a little more revenge. Andersen's first shutout came in Game #6, stopping 33 shots to go with his team's three goals, maintaining his perfect start with a 3-0 victory.
With Boston in town for the first half of a back-to-back, Andersen sat for the first time while Raanta made his Canes debut in a 6-3 win over the Blackhawks. With some extra rest, Andersen went 22-for-23 to beat the Coyotes for his seventh straight win. After completing a perfect October, the Canes kept it rolling in Chicago. Andersen made 27 saves, and the Canes erased a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.
All good things come to an end, but it's the journey that matters the most
The winning streak came to an end in Sunrise, Florida, on November 6, 2021, in Andersen's ninth start of the season. The undefeated Canes watched their perfect season disappear in a 5-2 loss to the regulation loss-less Panthers. Andersen allowed four goals, which would be his season high until he allowed seven in his final start of the year in Colorado before exiting with a season-ending injury.
Comparing Andersen's 8-0-0 start with Kochetkov's isn't quite the same. A lot of that comes down to shot volume. Andersen faced almost 30 shots per game, seeing at least 25 shots in all but one contest. Kochetkov hasn't seen 25 shots once. Their GAAs are close, with Andersen at 1.50 and Kochetkov at 1.62, but Andersen had a clear advantage in save percentage.
Andersen's first season with the Hurricanes will go down as one of the best goaltending seasons in franchise history. His 35 wins, 2.17 GAA, and .922 save percentage all rank in the Top 6 for a single season. He also led all netminders in the NHL with four assists. Despite missing the end of the year, Andersen finished 4th for the Vezina, the best finish for a Hurricanes goalie ever.
We'll see how this shakes out for Kochetkov. He'll likely get his chance to set a new mark on Thursday against Columbus or on Sunday against Winnipeg. A ninth straight win would also tie him for the longest win streak at any point during a season. Brandon Bussi reached that twice last season, and Cam Ward did it in 2008-09. For all of the records, you can't do anything but take it one day at a time.
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