Round 1 Preview: Canes vs. Senators

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes' road to a Stanley Cup begins with a first-round matchup against the Ottawa Senators.

It will be uncharted territory, as it's the first time that these two organizations will meet in the postseason.

Carolina arrives at the series after a 53-22-7 regular season, finishing atop the Eastern Conference. Their eighth consecutive playoff berth will begin with home-ice advantage for the sixth time in a row.

Ottawa comes to Raleigh as the second Wild Card seed in the Eastern Conference, which they earned with a 44-27-11 record. In his second year with the team, bench boss Travis Green has led the team back to the playoffs after a first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last year.

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Revisiting The Regular-Season Meetings...

• January 24: Nine Hurricanes registered a point as a hot start helped Carolina top the Sens 4-2 in Ottawa.
• February 3: Sebastian Aho had three points and Seth Jarvis notched two goals as the Canes took a 4-3 victory at Lenovo Center.
• April 5: Carolina struck first, but three consecutive goals in the final 40 minutes lifted the Senators to a 6-3 win at Canadian Tire Centre.

Facing off three times in 71 days during the 2026 portion of the regular-season schedule, the Canes earned a pair of wins before dropping the final meeting. It's worth noting that the third contest was the day after the Canes clinched their playoff berth and began resting players, including Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal.

Seth Jarvis led the Canes with four points in the three games, including a goal and an assist in the January 24 meeting, and then a double-dip in the goal column on February 3.

Brandon Bussi was victorious in the first two battles, turning away 36 and 24, respectively. His 36-save win in Ottawa in January was one of the best performances in his storybook season.

On The Other Side...

One of the best teams in the NHL since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Sens went 26-12-6 post Jan. 1, accumulating 58 points in the standings (T-3rd, NHL).

Averaging 3.48 goals per game (T-7th) and allowing just 2.75 (T-2nd) during that time, Brady Tkachuk and the gang have been a handful for anyone they've been matched up with.

Playing a heavy style, no team has produced more hits than Travis Green's bunch in 2026 (1,050). Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, center Dylan Cozens leads the way with 215 this season.

And where the Senators really give their opposition fits is in the faceoff dot. Winning 54.5%, that number ties them with the New York Rangers for the best in the league this season. 38-year-old Claude Giroux won a whopping 63.1%, the best among all forwards who took at least 500 draws this year.

As for potential weaknesses to exploit, two things that stand out are Ottawa's penalty kill and its goaltending.

Killing off just 75.7% of infractions, the Senators finished 29th out of all teams this season. That's music to the ears of a Canes team that finished with the league's fourth-best power play (24.9%).

When it comes to their last line of defense, Linus Ullmark has been the horse for the team when available. But his .891 save percentage this year is the lowest in his 11-year career. He played in just one of three regular-season meetings between the two sides, picking up the win earlier this month.

Special Teams During The Regular Season...

Carolina's Power Play: 24.9% (4th)

Carolina's Penalty Kill: 80.5% (11th)

In years past, Carolina's penalty kill has been the dominant half of its special teams. While the Canes still sit just outside the league's top ten, this time around, it's their man advantage that should have Ottawa fearful.

Dating back to the Dec. 2 inclusion of Jordan Staal, the units have been 50-for-168 (29.8%), second among all NHL teams. More recently, they have had 16 conversions in their last 15 games.

Oh, and they can score while down a man, too, leading the league with 12 shorthanded goals.

Ottawa's Power Play: 24.0% (8th)

Ottawa's Penalty Kill: 75.7% (29th)

Ottawa's power play has been consistently good all season long. Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson lead the way with 13 goals each.

On the other side of the coin, the Sens have had a tough time killing off penalties. Only the Los Angeles Kings (74.7%), the Vancouver Canucks (72.0%), and Seattle Kraken (71.7%) had worse regular seasons.

In Net...

Carolina: Frederik Andersen, Brandon Bussi, and Pyotr Kochetkov

Another year of playoffs, another year of wondering who the Game 1 starter will be until the day of.

The case for Andersen begins with his postseason experience. Playing in 85 games over the course of his career, he's backstopped 32 for the Canes over the last three years. His .909 save percentage in those contests is fourth-best among all NHL netminders who have played in at least 20 games during that time. It also helps that he's played his best hockey of the season since returning from the Winter Olympics.

As for Bussi, there's a reason he was selected as the team's MVP by the Carolina Professional Hockey Writers Association. Where would the team be without the early-October waiver claim? Winning 31 of his first 39 starts in the league, the only word to describe his season is historic. However, he hasn't had the experience of the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet. How much does that weigh in the decision?

Then, there's the wild card, Kochetkov. Expected to be out for the year after undergoing a pair of lower-body surgeries around the turn of the new year, the 26-year-old defied the odds and pushed his way back into action. Practicing with the team for most of this month and making a pair of rehab appearances with the Chicago Wolves (AHL) last weekend, he was slated to start on Tuesday on Long Island, before a last-second "roster technicality" negated the would-have-been moment. So, now what? He has played at least one game in all four of the team's most recent postseasons, but he hasn't played a full NHL game since Dec. 20. How does he factor in?

Ottawa: Linus Ullmark and James Reimer

Even with a midseason leave of absence, Ullmark played 49 of Ottawa's 82 games this season. Winning 28 of them, unquestionably, he's the go-to guy. His 12 wins post-Winter Olympics are tied for the most by any goaltender in the league. However, as mentioned earlier, his season-long .891 save percentage is the lowest of his now 11-year career.

It would be shocking if Ullmark isn't the guy every game of the series, but if injury troubles arise, or Travis Green has to look elsewhere, former Hurricane James Reimer, who was signed mid-season, is the second option.

Players To Watch...

Carolina: Nikolaj Ehlers

The fourth-year Hurricane has been as advertised and then some for his new team. The lone member of the roster to play all 82 games, "Fly" is arriving at the best time of the year with a hot hand as well.

Ehlers set a new career-high with 71 points this season, 10 of which have come in the team's last nine games. One of the team's seven 20-goal scorers, 18 of his 26 this year have come since Jan. 1.

What type of impact will he have in his first postseason with the group?

Ottawa: Tim Stutzle

Ottawa's leading scorer got his first taste of the postseason last year and followed it up with 83 points in 80 games.

Averaging over 20 minutes per night, the 24-year-old German had the best season of his career in the faceoff dot, winning 53% of his tries. With all the skill in the world, Carolina will have to be mindful when the 2020 third-overall pick is on the ice.

How They See It...

Rod Brind'Amour as his team turns the page to the postseason...

"We've been eager for this for a long time. Once we knew it was official, and we were in a pretty good spot all year, we've got to turn the page now. It goes to being a sprint. We know the season's a marathon, and now all of a sudden you've got to be ready right from the get-go and put your best foot forward."

Sebastian Aho talking about getting ready to head into the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again, with the ultimate carrot dangling in front of them...

"Obviously, there's that hunger and that fire inside of this group that we definitely need to use. Hopefully, we can use it to our advantage."

Mark Jankowski describing what changes now that the team goes into postseason mode...

"We've got to keep our foot on the gas. Playoff hockey, it's like nothing else. You can't really explain it. Every play matters, every single puck battle, every little hit, everything's amplified so much more. The crowd's into it right from the get-go. We're just really excited to get going."

Rod Brind'Amour on the Ottawa Senators...

"That's a tough matchup. They all are at this time of year moving forward, but that's one of the better teams, in my opinion, in the NHL. They had kind of a tough start to their season, and some interesting things go on, but they've got it covered, top to bottom. It's going to be a huge challenge."

Seth Jarvis continuing on Ottawa...

"Their power play is really good. Penalties are going to happen, but it's the stupid ones you want to avoid, because they can definitely get you there. They have a lot of skill, a lot of good defensemen, and a lot of skill up front. They're dangerous..."

Mark Jankowski giving his scouting report on the Senators...

"They're a good team. They play hard. They earned their spot in the playoffs. It's going to be a great series for us. We know what we're up against. I'm sure in the next few days we'll look at them a little more in-depth. They're a good matchup, for sure."

Where To Watch Every Game...

Can't make it to Lenovo Center, or looking for a place to watch the road games in the series? Visit any Carolina Ale House in the state to watch the Canes all throughout the playoffs.

FanDuel Sports Network South will also broadcast every game of Round 1. View the complete schedule and broadcast info here.