Oct 25, 2026 3:07 AM

Pyotr Kochetkov’s dominant goaltending fueled a flawless finale in St. Louis, as the Hurricanes capitalized on depth scoring to secure a statement victory before heading home.

The Carolina Hurricanes closed out their five game road trip with a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Sean Walker, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Logan Stankoven and Nikolaj Ehlers all lit the lamp, while Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves in the win.

After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Ehlers and Kochetkov spoke with the media in St. Louis. Here's what they had to say:

Rod Brind'Amour

On the game: Pretty solid effort all the way. I thought when we had a couple little breakdowns, [Kochetkov] was great and then we had the one penalty there and he made a couple saves, then was just really great behind the net with the puck touches. I thought coming out of that, getting a goal right at the end of the kill, a great play by [Seth Jarvis] up to [Stankoven]. That was kind of, I don't want to say break breaker, but that could have swung the game that couple of minutes there. Then in the third, you've got a big lead and sometimes it's tough, but I thought we played pretty well. Power play goal was nice to kind of put it away.

On the saves to start the second period: Right there, I thought the goaltending was on display with how you do it. Tied, get the momentum going with a couple big saves when you need it because the game can change so quickly if it goes the other way. He was obviously the first star tonight.

On the second line: We've talked about them here a little bit but [Jackson Blake] and [Stankoven], they're just really special players and we know Ehlers is already, he's proven that, so when you put those three together, you kind of don't know what's going to happen at any time. They can make plays out of nothing and that's the unique gifts they have.

On ending the road trip off right: There's not too many nights where you don't get that. We're a pretty honest group and pretty professional no matter what the circumstances. We expect that. It's good on those guys to finish a long trip off on the right note and really, we played well every game. Pretty happy with the way the guys are doing their job.

On Pyotr Kochetkov's win streak: He's making big saves at the right times. Some nights we don't give him that much, but there's always a time where he has to make a play or a save for us and that's what he's done all year.

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Pyotr Kochetkov

On the game: The win always feels good. I just want to go home because long trip. I very happy for guys that we have win today and tomorrow it's a day off. It's amazing. Feels amazing.

On his undefeated streak to start the year: Tough to say because guys play every night very nice. Lots of blocked shots. I just try to do my job and guys do a good job every time. I just try and mentally I'm just ready for every game very similarly. I very liked it today and guys played well. Have four goals. All is good.

On how the road trip went overall: Every game a little different. We have lots of back-to-backs and guys a little bit tired. Always good to come back to family and tomorrow off day. I just very, very proud. I feel good how we play on this trip.

Nikolaj Ehlers

On the game: Especially in the third period, the way we played in that, we still gave up some chances, but we liked that third period a lot better than the last one against Edmonton. We did a lot of things right. They play a tight game, don't give you a lot, but we found ways to get goals and [Kochetkov] shut it down.

On the equipment issue he helped Kochetkov with: All I saw was him trying to explain what he needed and when I came over, he pointed at the strap and just said, "More. More." And I've been with [Kochetkov] for a while now and I know what that means. So I just got to work. Maybe that's a job for me after the hockey career.

On the second period: Besides my turnover at the blueline for their breakaway, I think we started [that period] pretty well. When we play the right way and get skating and get pucks out and get pucks in, I know it's all the cliches, but when we do that the right way and play for each other, we're a really good team and we create a lot of zone time that way. I think we did that really well.

On closing out the road trip the right way: Huge. Especially when you lose the last game like we did. You want to bounce back right away and we were able to do that. With the guys out, we've had guys come into the lineup and they've really stepped it up. We did that all last year and it seems like it started that way again this year. I'm proud of the guys in here. It sucks that we have guys out, but we have to play with the guys that we have and each guy has stepped up. That's exciting for our team.

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