The Carolina Hurricanes got some bad news on the injury front as coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed that goalie Pyotr Kochetkov will miss a bit a time due to a lower-body injury.
"He's gonna be a little longer than we were hoping," Brind'Amour said Saturday morning. "Nothing serious, but probably, I'd say right now, that he's out for sure a week. Then we'll see where he's at."
Kochetkov, 26, was injured at some point during training camp and went Friday for a second opinion on it.
The Russian netminder had missed a few days of practice here and there, but managed to play in the team's final preseason game a week ago. However, now team will be without a big piece for the near future.
It's a tough blow for the Canes who now are once again dealing with goalie problems before the season had even started.
While Frederik Andersen is slated to go for his second start in a row tonight against Philadelphia, the team has a two-week, six-game road trip coming up.
Brind'Amour said that the team is hopeful that they'll be able to bring Kochetkov with them on the trip, but his timeline might mean that new netminder Brandon Bussi could potentially have to start at least one game.
"That's why we picked him up," Brind'Amour said when asked if he'd be confident in giving Bussi games. "We've played three goalies the last how many years. We always feel like we're using a third guy. Definitely have no problem with that."
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