Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves in an impressive season debut Tuesday night and the Carolina Hurricanes earned a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers, who remained winless on home ice.
Kochetkov returned from missing the first month with a lower-body injury after making one appearance for the Chicago Wolves on an AHL conditioning assignment. He made 15 saves in the first period and five more during a New York power play early in the second when Carolina was called for too many men on the ice.
Kochetkov posted his 11th career shutout and Carolina’s first of this season. His performance helped the Hurricanes improve to 7-1-0 in the past eight meetings with the Rangers.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored a power-play goal with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first for his first goal with the Hurricanes. Seth Walker scored late in the second after setting up Ehlers’ goal.
Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal with 1:39 left by finishing off a breakaway and Mike Reilly collected two assists.
The Rangers dropped to 0-5-1 at home, breaking the 1943-44 team record for the longest home losing skid to start a season. The NHL’s longest home losing streak at the start of a season is eight games set by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1971-1972 season.
New York saw a three-game winning streak stopped and was blanked for the fourth time on home ice this season. The Rangers have scored six goals on home ice this season and had one shot on goal in the final 20 minutes when it heard loud boos.
New York’s Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots but was beaten on a pair of screened shots late in the first two periods.
The Rangers took 13 of the game’s first 17 shots on goal but could not score and fell behind during Carolina’s initial power play. Shortly after Jarvis was denied by a sprawling save, he screened Shesterkin, allowing Ehlers’ shot from above the right circle to sail by Mika Zibanejad and into the vacated left side of the net.
Carolina doubled its lead on a similar play to the first goal. After Walker made the pass to Ehlers for the first goal, he stepped into a shot from above the right circle and sent it through traffic and into the net as Shesterkin was screened by Carolina’s Bradly Nadeau.
