When the Carolina Hurricanes were swept by the Florida Panthers in 2023 after four one-goal losses, many online gave Rod Brind'Amour a hard time for saying the Canes weren't really swept because of how close each game was. In reality, the Canes were swept. That's how this series felt when it was all said and done. The Senators put up a great fight, but the Canes won it in four games.
The Canes dispatched of their first-round opponent in short order, completing the second best-of-seven sweep in franchise history, joining their 2019 second-round triumph over the Islanders. It turns out the "toughest first-round opponent the Hurricanes have faced in a long time" wasn't much of a match for them after all. Here's what to know about a week's worth of games for the Canes.
Stories of the Series
The captains open the series with a bang: Game 1 of the series was the first to be played across the entire postseason slate for the league. No more than three seconds into the game, the postseason got its first major headline, with Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk and Carolina captain Jordan Staal dropping the gloves off the opening draw.
In my eyes, Staal earned a decisive victory over Tkachuk, even with Tkachuk immediately getting up and playing to the crowd as if he'd gotten the better of the altercation. The judges didn't see it that way. Still, it set the tone for the series and the Canes' willingness to match Ottawa's physicality. It also became a microcosm of Tkachuk's series as a whole.
Power plays go ice cold: There were fewer entities on the planet hotter than the Hurricanes' power play at the end of the season, and Ottawa's group featured a ton of offensive weaponry, making this a potentially fun head-to-head matchup heading into the series. Then, they combined to go 3-for-38 in the series, including 0-for-6 during 5-on-3 situations.
The Canes "won" the battle, scoring twice in the series. Both goals came from Logan Stankoven, including the go-ahead goal in Game 4. Ottawa didn't break through until Saturday, scoring on their seventh opportunity in the game, courtesy of Drake Batherson. Carolina's penalty kill was phenomenal, finishing 20-for-21 in four games.
Big hits knock out defensemen: The gray cloud hanging over the series for the final two games concerned two big hits against impactful blueliners. In Game 3, Jake Sanderson exited a few shifts after taking a shoulder to the head from Taylor Hall. He received a penalty on the play, but nothing more came of it, much to the chagrin of Ottawa's bench boss, Travis Green.
During the second period of Game 4, the Senators took an eye for an eye. Tyler Kleven laid a monstrous hit on Alexander Nikishin, who stayed down on the ice for a moment before stumbling as he was being helped off the ice. It kick-started a period of complete chaos and put the immediate future of Nikishin in question for the remainder of the playoffs.
Senators' stars silenced: If the Senators dreamed of having success against the Canes in the series, they'd need big performances from their top players and an outstanding goaltending performance from Linus Ullmark. They certainly got the latter. Ullmark was the Senators' best player by a country mile. Otherwise, there wasn't much to like about Ottawa's series.
Ottawa was limited to five goals. Drake Batherson led the way with three goals and four points. Dyland Cozens scored a pair. Otherwise, no one else scored a goal. Tim Stutzle had just one assist in Game 4. Brady Tkachuk didn't have a point. Neither did Claude Giroux. Shane Pinto was scoreless, too. Only seven Senators had a point, struggling to solve the brick wall in the net.
Best Moment: Andersen's goal-line stop fools the referees
It's hard to declare a true turning point moment in the series, seeing as how quickly it ended, and there's one moment that might trump it, but the Canes' penalty kill early in the third period might've been that point. Up 1-0 in Game 1, the Canes were staring down the barrel of their third kill of the night. After two easy kills, this one proved to be much tougher.
Batherson saw success against Frederik Andersen in the series, and it appeared he'd gotten the Senators' opening goal during this power play. The referee along the goal line certainly thought so. However, after a review, Andersen's glove stayed along the line to keep the puck out. He made one more stop shortly after on Tkachuk before the Canes added a second goal in a 2-0 Game 1 win.
Best Game: Martinook sends the Caniacs home happy in 2OT
Having a game go to double overtime is more than enough to earn Game 2 the honor of the series' best. It would be one thing if it were about the winning goal. However, Game 2 has the distinct honor of featuring two game-winning goals that ended in a celebration. Unfortunately, for the Canes, the first one didn't count.
After the sides fought to a 2-2 draw through 60 minutes, Mark Jankowski appeared to score the winner late in the fourth period on a rebound. The crowd went nuts, but a long review from Toronto deemed the play offside. The eventual payoff didn't come until the fifth period, when Jordan Martinook, whose penalty shot was stopped after that sequence, scored to win the game for good.
Three Stars of the Series
Third Star: No line on the team was hotter than the Stankoven line at the end of the regular season. They continued their scoring ways into the first round. The man in the middle was a big part of that. Logan Stankoven scored a goal in each of the four games, including the opening goal in the first three games, becoming the second player in NHL history to accomplish such a feat.
His four goals are tied for the most in the league, as of Sunday. Two of his four goals came on the power play, accounting for both of the team's goals on the man advantage. Stankoven finished second on the team with five points. He also tied for the team lead in shots with Andrei Svechnikov (18). Including the regular season, Stankoven has 11 goals during an ongoing 12-game point streak.
Second Star: The points leader in the clubhouse for the Hurricanes at the end of the series might be a surprise. Taylor Hall has turned back the clock since joining the group last January, and the team has reaped all of the benefits. Hall recorded at least one point in all four games, sitting tied for the most points in the league for the moment with seven.
Hall recorded multiple points in three of the four games, factoring in on seven of the team's 11 goals in the series. After his hit on Sanderson in Game 3, Hall became the most hated man in Ontario. As a marked man, Hall scored the opening goal in Game 4 and added an assist. He provided helpers on both power-play goals, and his +7 paced the team as well.
First Star: When you hold a team to only five goals in four games, there's a lot of praise that needs to be given to the team's defense. However, it's the goalie whose behind is on the line at the end of the day. Frederik Andersen, as Rod Brind'Amour put it, might've played some of his best hockey as a Hurricane in this series, winning all four games on the way to a sweep.
Andersen started the postseason with a shutout in Game 1 before stopping 37 shots in the double-overtime win in Game 2. His performances in Ottawa were quieter, but just as sterling. He posted a 1.10 GAA and a .965 save percentage. With his four wins, Andersen tied Cam Ward for the most postseason wins in franchise history, recording his 23rd win in five fewer games (36).
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