Seth Jarvis (24) of the Carolina Hurricanes protects the puck from Denton Mateychuk of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period of their game at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jared C. Tilton
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Raleigh
It’s getting late in the hockey season, and the Carolina Hurricanes are checking off boxes.
The first was clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canes did that Thursday with a decisive win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Next is the Metropolitan Division title, and the Hurricanes moved a step closer Saturday with a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders at the Lenovo Center.
Also on the list: first place in the Eastern Conference. That’s still to be determined, as the Canes (104 points) and Tampa Bay Lightning (102) are contending to finish on top.
“Home ice in the playoffs is important, but I think the most important thing is feeling good about our game going into the playoffs,” Canes defenseman Sean Walker said. “We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas and push the rest of the way.”
The Canes, quick and aggressive, dominated the Islanders with a 40-16 edge in shots and 82 total shooting attempts to the Isles’ 32.
Seth Jarvis had two goals and an assist, showing off his vertical leap into the glass after his first score. Sebastian Aho scored shorthanded and Jackson Blake had a goal while the Canes were stifling the Isles, who had five of their shots in the last three minutes of regulation after goalie Ilya Sorokin left for a sixth attacker.
“That was pretty impressive, considering what’s at stake,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We played the way we wanted to, and we got what we deserved tonight.”
The Canes have scored shorthanded in three straight games — Jordan Martinook and Alexander Nikishin with the first two shorties — for the first time since December 1980. Carolina has 12 this season.
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin jump-started the rush with a bank pass off the boards to Jarvis, who connected with Aho on a two-on-one rush for a 3-2 lead in the second period.
“Slavo made a great play kind of holding on to it and letting me and Fishy (Aho) get up ice,” Jarvis said. “That’s something we’ve gotten a lot better at, our D, when we’re out there, they know we’re looking for offense.”
The Isles (42-31-5), fighting to hold on to third place in the Metro, were coming off a 4-1 loss Friday to the Flyers in Philadelphia. They managed to keep the score tight against the Canes with goals from Marc Gatcomb, Max Shabanov and Anders Lee in the final 90 seconds of regulation after pulling Sorokin, whose 36 saves gave his team a chance.
Brandon Bussi earned his 29th win of the season for the Canes, who have a game Sunday at Ottawa.
Pyotr Kochetkov joins Hurricanes at morning skate
What had been a routine morning skate Saturday at Lenovo Center got a surprising twist: a late appearance by Pyotr Kochetkov, coming on the ice in his goaltending gear.
Two days after Brind’Amour said there was no timeline for Kochetkov’s return from lower-body issues and surgery that have kept him out for three months, Kochetkov was back. He spent some time in net facing a few shots, later saying it was fun being back skating with the guys for the first time.
Kochetkov, 26, has not played since Dec. 20, when he gave up five goals in a loss at Tampa Bay — his ninth game of the season. He elected to have surgery for an injury that had slowed him since training camp and his return was uncertain, although General Manager Eric Tulsky did say later that he might be able to get back before the end of the season. Kochetkov, in talking to the media Saturday, would not specify what type of surgery was performed. He did say his injury situation — he had a different lower-body issue surface during camp — reached the point that it could not be alleviated without surgery.
“After some time, it was just every day no feel good,” he said. “It was when I skate, when I’m off ice, when I sleep. I try my best to play and try to come back every time, but every game it just felt more and more and more. I had a moment where I knew I just couldn’t do it.”
Asked how close he was to being able to play, Kochetkov said he was not sure and joked that Andrei Svechnikov scored a few times on him Saturday.
“I’m probably very far from playing if he scored on me,” he quipped.
Kochetkov has started 120 games in parts of five seasons with the Canes, with an overall record of 71-38-12, a career 2.46 goals against average and .905 save percentage. He has 11 career shutouts, blanking the New York Rangers in his first start of the 2025-26 season at Madison Square Garden.
“Tough time for me,” Kochetkov said. “Tough mentally, tough on my body. But now I feel much better. Just every day, step by step.”
The News & Observer
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.