Despite all of the injury challenges that the team has faced throughout the season, the 2025-26 campaign will go down as one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. The Canes won 53 games and earned 113 points to win the division and the conference, positioning themselves as the top team in the East. With 82 games completed, it's time for a new season to begin.
While the Canes were one of the best teams in the league over the last six months, everyone is right back to square one when the playoffs begin this weekend. There are no easy games and no easy opponents as the chase for the Stanley Cup begins. The Hurricanes are about to learn this lesson in the first round against an Atlantic Division opponent.
With the Boston Bruins shutting out the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, they secured the top Wild Card spot and a date with the Buffalo Sabres. This means that the Hurricanes will welcome the Ottawa Senators to Raleigh for the first two games of the first round. It will be the first time that the Hurricanes and the Senators will collide in the playoffs.
The Hurricanes and the Senators are at different stages as organizations. The Canes are entering their eighth straight postseason, trying to get over the elusive conference finals hump after three trips in the previous seven years. The Senators are in their second straight playoffs, losing in the first round last season to Toronto in six games.
In three meetings this season, the Hurricanes won a pair, including a victory in Canada's capital. However, the Senators won the most recent encounter, scoring a big 6-3 win in what would be the Canes' final regulation loss before ending the season on a five-game point streak. The Canes also rested Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook for that final game.
While we know the opponent and the venue for the series opener, the last important piece that needs to be decided is when the series will begin. While the 16 playoff teams are locked in place, and all four matchups in the Eastern Conference are set in stone, the schedule for the first round remains a mystery, though I expect that to change soon.
A tentative schedule has floated around the internet over the last few days, including the potential television spots for each day. There appears to be a legitimate chance that Game 1 of the series will be on Saturday afternoon. The Senators play their final game of the regular season on Wednesday, giving them two full days in between, if Saturday is, in fact, the day.
Despite being the second Wild Card team, this is not going to be an easy matchup for the Carolina Hurricanes, and we'll go more in-depth about why that's the case over the next few days. As we all wait for the official word regarding the start time, take some time to enjoy these next few days. Once we know more details, the stress level will be turned up quite a bit.
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