RALEIGH — The Hurricanes were admittedly not at their best Thursday night against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
It didn’t matter.
Jack Roslovic scored two more goals and registered his first assist of the season, Jalen Chatfield had the first three-point game of his career, Pyotr Kochetkov made a season-high 35 saves, and Carolina won its eighth straight game by beating Pittsburgh 5-1.
“I mean, it’s just going in,” said Roslovic, who matched the nine goals he scored in 59 games last season in just his first 12 with the Hurricanes.
Roslovic also picked up his first assist of the season, something his teammates have been ribbing him about during his red-hot start.
“He’s still going for the Cy Young,” Jordan Martinook, who opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the game, said of Roslovic. “I don’t know what he has, nine and one? So he’s having a heck of a year for the Cy Young.”
Kochetkov, who was making his fifth straight start, needed to be Carolina’s best player as the Penguins outshot the home team 36-18 despite the lopsided win.
“He’s been great the past few years I played with him, even in Chicago,” said Chatfield, who won a Calder Cup with Kochetkov on the Chicago Wolves in 2022. “It’s nothing new. I think when you have him in net, you really trust him. And that’s a strength of ours, having such good goaltending. So it’s a huge part of our team.”
Kochetkov made a season-high 35 saves on the night, including 10 on the Hurricanes’ 4-for-4 penalty kill, and Carolina made the most of its chances — including early when it built a 2-0 lead in the first period.
First, Jordan Staal saucered a pass over the stick of Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Karlsson that Martinook redirected past former Hurricanes draft pick Alex Nedeljkovic (13 saves) to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead just 52 seconds into the game.
“We’ve been together now two and a half, three years, so we’re pretty much part of each other,” Martinook said of his chemistry with Staal, who ended a 10-game point drought with his first assist of the season and only point since his opening-night goal.
Roslovic then got his first goal of the night at 8:47 of the period, taking a pass from Sebastian Aho and beating Nedeljkovic cleanly for a 2-0 lead.
“He’s got a great release, and we’ve seen that now,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Guys are finding him, and he’s making the best of it.”
The Hurricanes doubled their lead in the second period.
Roslovic notched his second of the night just before the midway point of regulation, snapping in a seam pass from Andrei Svechnikov for his team-leading ninth goal of the year.
Roslovic then picked up his first assist of the season when Aho took his pass and then angled the puck off the boards so Jaccob Slavin could one-time it through traffic for his first goal of the season at 13:52 of the second period.
“The guys were making fun of it, so it is what it is,” Roslovic said with a smile.
Carolina padded its lead in the third period when Martin Necas set up Eric Robinson for his third goal of the season at 2:07 of the third. The assist extended Necas’ point streak to eight games and gave him 21 points, tying him for fourth in the league in scoring.
Kochetkov lost his shutout bid when Blake Lizotte scored at 5:08 of the third period.
The Hurricanes finished their perfect four-game home stand with 23 goals while allowing nine. At 10-2-0, they have an .833 winning percentage, trailing only Winnipeg (.929).
Notes: Sidney Crosby, held without a point for the second time this season against Carolina, took 27 of the game’s 57 faceoffs. He won 14. … Michael Bunting, in his first game back in Raleigh since he was traded to Pittsburgh in March, finished with a game-high five hits and had a roughing penalty. … After starting last season minus-11 in his first eight games with the Hurricanes, Dmitry Orlov is tied for third in the NHL with a plus-12 through 12 games.
