Pyotr Kochetkov is 10-0 and one win from tying Jack Campbell

How did Pyotr Kochetkov get to 10-0?

Pyotr Kochetkov has played 10 games this season and won all 10. The latest was the easiest. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-0 on Sunday in Raleigh, and Kochetkov stopped all 26 shots he saw.

Sean Walker scored twice, once short-handed. Juuso Valimaki, Sebastian Aho, Logan Stankoven, Mark Jankowski and Jesperi Kotkaniemi added the rest. Aho and Jankowski scored on the power play, and 12 Carolina players made the scoresheet. Winnipeg is 4-8-3 and winless in nine straight.

It was Kochetkov's second shutout of the season and the 13th of his NHL career. Rod Brind'Amour summed up his goalie in one line: "He's been real calming and he's made some big saves."

This is not a sudden heater, either. The league named Kochetkov its third star for the month of October, the third time in his career he has won a monthly award.

Who else has started an NHL season 10-0?

Two goalies. Kochetkov is the third goalie in NHL history to win each of his first 10 games of a season. Carey Price did it for Montreal in 2016-17 and stopped at 10. Jack Campbell did it for Toronto in 2020-21 and pushed it to 11.

That is the whole list. One more win and Kochetkov ties Campbell. Two more and the record is his alone.

What does Kochetkov's 10-game run look like?

It started on opening night with a 3-2 overtime win at Philadelphia and has not stopped. He beat the Flyers twice, Vancouver twice and Winnipeg twice, plus Washington, St. Louis, Boston and Columbus.

The blowouts get the headlines, but the close games tell you more. Four of the 10 wins came by one goal: 3-2 in overtime at Philadelphia, 3-2 at Winnipeg on Oct. 17, 2-1 over Boston on Oct. 27 and 3-2 over Columbus on Oct. 29. In one-goal games the goalie is the difference, and he has not blinked in any of them.

He has also won on the road. Five of the 10 wins came away from Raleigh, including the 4-0 shutout at St. Louis on Oct. 24.

Are Kochetkov's numbers as good as the record?

Yes. This is not a goalie riding a hot offense. Kochetkov has allowed 15 goals in 10 games, a 1.49 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. He has stopped 196 of the 211 shots he has faced.

He has allowed more than two goals once, in a 6-3 win at Vancouver on Oct. 20. In the other nine games he gave up two or fewer. Two of them were shutouts, 4-0 at St. Louis and Sunday's 7-0 over Winnipeg.

Carolina is 12-2-2 and has won 12 of its past 14. Kochetkov is the biggest reason why.

What is the case against Kochetkov?

The fair knock is the workload. Carolina does not give up many shots, and Kochetkov has not faced more than 26 in any of his 10 games. He saw 211 shots total. Four times he faced fewer than 20. Goalies behind tight defenses tend to pile up wins.

It is also 10 games, in a season that runs 82. Price and Campbell both had their streaks end, and so will this one. The question is not whether he loses. It is what he looks like after he does.

None of that erases what the numbers say. A .929 save percentage is earned one shot at a time, and he has not lost a game since the season started.