Pyotr Kochetkov In Concussion Protocol

The Carolina goaltender left Saturday's game early after a blow to the head that seemingly knocked him unconscious.

Carolina Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol per coach Rod Brind'Amour following a forceful blow to the head on Saturday.

In overtime against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Kochetkov reached out of his crease to knock a puck off the stick of Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski and wound up absorbing a forceful hit from Sean Walker, who was battling Werenski near the net, directly into his head.

Kochetkov appeared to go unconscious briefly following the hit, and had to be helped off the ice.

There is currently no timeline for his return.

"We'll just see," Brind'Amour said. "You see some guys bounce back really quick and some guys take longer. Hopefully it's the bounce back variety"

One positive note is that Kochetkov was at the arena this morning so the injury doesn't appear to be anything more beyond just a concussion.

Kochetkov also dealt with a concussion last season and wound up missing eight games because of it.

With Carolina already down another netminder with Frederik Andersen having had knee surgery, it will be Spencer Martin's job to man the crease.

"We're fortunate that we've had Spencer here," Brind'Amour said. "I think we feel good about that but after that, we're just not sure. We've never had any of these young guys play yet, really. Like I said, hopefully [Kochetkov] isn't out too long."

The Canes face the Dallas Stars tonight but have a brutal schedule coming up with games against the New York Rangers and twice against Florida Panthers in just this week alone.

Talk about bad timing.