Senators pushed to the brink: Ottawa falls behind 3-0 to Carolina Hurricanes

Fabian Zetterlund of the Ottawa Senators tries to tip the puck past Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen's blocker during first period playoff action at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on April 23, 2026. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia Network

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HURRICANES 2, SENATORS 1

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Carolina leads series 3-0

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The Ottawa Senators have witnessed this movie before, and it comes with a heartbreaking finish.

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The Senators were pushed to the brink of elimination in their first-round series after a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a raucous crowd of 18,753 in Game 3 on Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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The Senators are 0-for-6 in franchise history when they fall behind 3-0 in a series, including last spring against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Game 4 is set for Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET), with the Senators facing a must-win situation.

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Goaltender Linus Ullmark has given this team a chance to win, but the Senators have been beaten by Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Anderson and his teammates. Only Drake Batherson was able to solve Andersen.

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The building was insane. The crowd was on fire once the puck was dropped, and the Senators got exactly what they expected from their faithful fans.

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“That’s the energy you kind of feed off,” Tim Stutzle said before the game. “That’s what you dream about as a kid when you play on the PlayStation or whatever, and the towels are going. It’s unbelievable. I missed it for a long time; I’m excited to get it back.”

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That excitement slipped away quickly.

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Ottawa finished the game without defenceman Jake Sanderson. He took a shot to the head from Taylor Hall in the second period and didn’t leave immediately, but went down the tunnel with 12:37 left in the period.

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The officials should have called a five-minute major and reviewed the play, but Hall got away with a minor penalty. Sanderson also blocked a shot with his hand, but we believe that his absence was a result of the head shot.

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The Senators were hopeful that getting defenceman Tyler Kleven back after he missed the first two games of the series, recovering from jaw surgery, would help. He was paired with Cameron Crotty, who was making his playoff debut.

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Instead, the Senators again finished a game with only five available defencemen.

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Moving the furniture around

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Senators head coach Travis Green shuffled his deck by moving Brady Tkachuk back to the right side of Stutzle and Batherson. It’s the first time the trio has started a game together since Jan. 10.

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Warren Foegele moved to the left side of the third line with Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio. That’s because Pinto and Amadio didn’t create much in the first two games, and changes had to be made.

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The Hurricanes are a relentless opponent. To have success, you have to be able to win battles and get some sustained pressure in their zone, which has been an issue in this series.

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Batherson got the crowd back into the game when he tied it up at 16:06 of the second period. That came as a result of a steal by Nick Cousins that allowed Batherson to get in alone, and he beat Andersen with a backhander.

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The joy didn’t last long. Jackson Blake scored his first goal of the series by taking a pass and beating Ullmark on the glove side with 2:31 left in the second period.

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What is wrong with the power play?

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The Senators were awarded a 5-on-3 power play for 1:28 midway through the second period. They had not scored a power-play goal in this series, and that had to change.

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But nothing was doing. It might have been the worst two-man advantage this club has had this season. The Senators recorded only one shot, didn’t execute well, and didn’t have anything to show for it.

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That brought the Senators to 0-for-11 on the power play in the series, and they look disjointed.

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The Senators had two power plays in the five minutes of the second period and couldn’t do anything with either of them. The Hurricanes were forcing them to turn the puck over and not allowing many shots on Andersen.