Pyotr Kochetkovwill have surgery for a lower-body injury and is expected to be out for the rest of the season, Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said on Monday.
The 26-year-old goalie, who was placed on injured reserve earlier on Monday, did not dress in the Hurricanes' past two games after allowing five goals on 28 shots in a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 20. He missed the first 11 games of the season with the lingering injury, which he sustained in the preseason.
"He's decided to have surgery, so he's going to be out for probably the year," Brind'Amour said. "He didn't feel right all year. As you know, he's been dealing with it all season. He's been playing great, that's the hard part. He was fighting through it, but he just doesn't want to continue that way, so we'll get him fixed and go from there."
Kochetkov is 6-2-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout in nine games (eight starts) this season.
A second-round pick (No. 36) by Carolina in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kochetkov is 71-38-12 with a 2.46 GAA, .905 save percentage and 11 shutouts in 125 regular-season games (120 starts), and 2-5 with a 3.83 GAA and .860 save percentage in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games (four starts).
With Kochetkov out, Brandon Bussi is likely to start against the New York Rangers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MSGSN), with Frederik Andersen serving as the backup. Bussi, 27, is 12-1-1 with a 2.10 GAA, .912 save percentage and one shutout in 14 starts this season, his first in the NHL. Andersen, 36, is 5-8-2 with a 3.27 GAA and .869 save percentage in 15 starts.
"We're going to need [Andersen]," Brind'Amour said. "The luxury we had is no longer a luxury anymore. We had three guys to rely on. Now, it's nope. It's pretty clear, we've got these two guys, and they've got to figure it out. That's been kind of our model here all year. No matter who is going in, you've got to figure it out."
Carolina (23-11-3) enters Monday first in the Metropolitan Division.
NHL.com independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report
