Recap: Canes Silence Senators, Advance To Round 2

OTTAWA - Led by yet another standout showing from Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall, the Carolina Hurricanes completed a sweep of the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 win in Game 4 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

GAME SUMMARY | BOX SCORE | BUY PLAYOFF TICKETS | PLAYOFF HUB

Although each team had a pair of power-play opportunities in the first period, including an abbreviated five-on-three for Ottawa, the game went into the second period scoreless. And if the opening 20 minutes of the day were considered quiet, the middle 20 were anything but.

Beginning with a seismic hit from Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven that knocked Alexander Nikishin out for the game, the two sides went on to register 11 penalties in the frame alone and produced countless post-whistle scrums.

Amid the boiling temperatures, Hall gave Carolina the first lead of the day to the chagrin of the hometown crowd, but unfortunately, it was a short-lived one. Just 1:53 later, Drake Batherson netted the first power play goal of the series for Ottawa, snapping what had been an 0-for-17 run.

Taking the 1-1 score to the third period, Stankoven again came up clutch with a crucial go-ahead goal. On a man advantage of their own, K'Andre Miller sent a blast wide of Linus Ullmark's cage, but it bounced from behind the end wall to a net-side Stankoven, who made no mistake on the putback with just under 11 minutes remaining.

From there, the Senators' hopes of saving their season went on a bit of a roller coaster to wrap up the night. Their ninth power play of the night was fruitless, and Sebastian Aho potting an empty-netter further removed the wind from their sails. Dylan Cozens then brought his team back within a goal 33 seconds later, just for Aho to put another in the empty cage to seal the series for Carolina.

Frederik Andersen backstopped his fourth straight playoff win with 25 saves on 27 shots, including a number of key stops to keep the game scoreless as the team's penalty kill was heavily taxed in the middle frame.

Stats & Standouts

• Taylor Hall opened the scoring for the Hurricanes and joined Sebastian Aho (5 GP, 2020) as the second player in franchise history with a point streak of four or more games to start a single postseason.
• Logan Stankoven became the first player in franchise history to start a postseason with a four-game goal streak. The NHL’s last instances occurred during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Valeri Nichushkin (7 GP w/ COL), Artturi Lehkonen (5 GP w/ COL) and Steven Stamkos (4 GP w/ TBL).
• Sebastian Aho scored his third career series-clinching goal and overtook Cory Stillman (2) for the most in Hurricanes/Whalers history. Aho is now one series-winner away from tying Jaromir Jagr (4), Artturi Lehkonen (4), Jari Kurri (4) and Peter Forsberg (4) for the most by a player born outside North America.
• Despite giving up a power-play goal for the first time all series, Carolina's penalty kill still turned in a stellar 8-for-9 effort, including a 5-on-3 kill. Jaccob Slavin was particularly herculean in the effort, logging 10:14 of the team's 13:21 total shorthanded ice time.
• Nikolaj Ehlers did not play for the Canes today due to a lower-body injury. Nic Deslauriers made his Hurricanes playoff debut in his place, logging four hits and four penalty minutes in just 3:09 TOI.
• The Hurricanes are the first team in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to advance to Round 2.
• Carolina also became the 20th team in NHL history to never trail in a game during a best-of-seven series. Only one club has done so in the past decade (MTL in 2021 R2 vs. WPG) and the Hurricanes/Whalers franchise has never achieved the feat.

They Said It...

Jordan Staal following the close-out game…

“Special teams, for sure, was the biggest thing. PK was good. That’s a good power play, too. We did a good job of giving them really not a whole lot. Our power play came up big with a couple of big goals in games to give us a lead. So, I think special teams was the biggest thing. Freddie was great. The rest of the game, five-on-five, was tight. That’s a good team. They played hard…”

Sean Walker summarizing Frederik Andersen's series...

"Unbelievable. It could have been a different series if he wasn't playing the way he was. He stood on his head every night and made incredible saves when we needed them. He was the real difference in the series."

Sebastian Aho on the team’s response to a physical second period…

“The battle level, the way we stuck together, that was unbelievable. But there are a few things we also want to learn from, probably, but that’s the beauty of this thing. We get to play more hockey and use the experience…”

Rod Brind’Amour on where his team has taken the biggest steps since last year's postseason...

“Well, we’ll see. I guess we’ll have to answer that, maybe, hopefully, later. But I do know that experience matters. You can just feel it. All that was going on in this game, that easily could’ve went sideways for us. I can go back and dissect all the little things that happened that I’m like, ‘how did we get shorthanded out of that?’… It was insane, and the guys are playing the game; they’re in it, and they understand that this is happening. To be able to just— we’ve been through all this before. There was zero panic, and I chalk that up to being down this road before.”

Taylor Hall on Logan Stankoven's series...

“He’s been awesome. If you look back at how he played the last 10-15 games of the regular season, our line was clicking pretty well. He had so many chances all year long. When you start to see some pucks go in, it makes you feel better, you know? I think that’s probably how he’s going. But it’s the other stuff too. We weren’t on for a goal against all series, and he’s our center. He’s the guy down low doing the work. It’s not just the goals, it’s the 200-foot game that he and our line have done pretty well.”

Logan Stankoven reflecting on the series as a whole...

“It was a tight series. Like, every single game it was just a little play here or a little play there, and that was the difference. I thought everyone came up at different times to make huge plays in the series. Ottawa’s right there, even though it ended up four-nothing. It was nice to get the job done, but it was tight for sure.”

What's Next?

The Hurricanes are scheduled to be off on Sunday and will await information regarding their Round 2 opponent and schedule.

Next Game: Date TBD | Round 2, Game 1 vs. TBD | Time TBD | How To Watch | Tickets | Parking