Carolina Hurricanes’ 3 Stars of January – The Hockey Writers –

The Carolina Hurricanes finished January on a seven-game point streak and a 10-3-2 record. They sit second in the Metropolitan Division with a 32-16-4 record (68 points) and are six points behind the Washington Capitals. This marks a significant turnaround after going 6-6-1 in December. They had a nine-point swing from Dec. 13 to Jan. 22.

In the fourth installment of “Three Stars of the Month” from us at The Hockey Writers, who led the way for the Hurricanes in January?

Third Star: Pyotr Kochetkov

For the second time this season, Pyotr Kochetkov gets the nod. Kochetkov was the First Star of the Month in November after finishing with a 6-1-0 record. In January, the Russian netminder – or “Nyetminder” as he’s been called – finished with a 5-2-2 record, .912 save percentage (SV%) and 2.33 goals-against average (GAA).

In 32 games this season, he has a 19-9-3 record with a .903 SV% – above the league average of .901 SV% – and a 2.47 GAA. He also has a shutout and three assists. Kochetkov accomplished this in Frederik Andersen’s two-month absence.

Related: Carolina Hurricanes’ 3 Stars of December

Amongst all of the discourse of how the Hurricanes were looking for another netminder and them “struggling” in goal, Kochetkov was the guy the Hurricanes needed most. Without Kochetkov starting most games in January, would the Hurricanes have had a 10-3-2 record? He earned five of the 10 wins in the month, while Andersen was a perfect 3-0-0 after he returned.

Second Star: Andrei Svechnikov

We debated whether Andrei Svechnikov should earn the second or third star of the month. Ultimately, a great month from the Russian forward earned him the latter. Making his first appearance in this series, Svechnikov finished January with five goals and 11 points in 15 games, including a three-point game against the New York Rangers on Jan. 28 in a 4-0 shutout win.

Svechnikov had 33 shots on goal in over 262 minutes of ice time (TOI), averaging 17:30 minutes per game while playing mainly on the team’s first line – until Mikko Rantanen was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche – and the first power-play unit. He had 306 shifts this month, scored a power-play goal, a game-winning goal, and recorded six even-strength assists.

Svechnikov had a 15.2% shooting percentage (S%) in January. Averaging seven seconds less in ice time, he had a more productive month.