Hurricanes down Senators to take 3-0 series lead; Sanderson exits with injury

OTTAWA — Brady Tkachuk stood in a sombre Senators locker room almost one year ago to the day.

Ottawa was left searching for answers facing elimination in its playoff return following seven seasons in the NHL’s wilderness.

Tkachuk’s team now again finds itself in the same deep — and uncomfortable — hole 12 months later.

Jackson Blake scored the winner in the second period and Frederik Andersen made 21 saves as the suffocating Carolina Hurricanes ground out a 2-1 victory over the Senators to take a 3-0 lead in the teams’ first-round series.

“Pretty frustrating, but we’ve got to find a way,” said Tkachuk, whose team suffered another devastating blow when No. 1 defenceman Jake Sanderson left in the second period after taking an illegal check to the head from Taylor Hall.

“We’ve never quit all season … got to step up to the occasion.”

Logan Stankoven had the other goal for the Hurricanes, who can sweep the best-of-seven showdown Saturday afternoon back at Canadian Tire Centre. Hall added two assists in Game 3 after Carolina opened the matchup with a 2-0 victory before securing a 3-2 double-overtime decision on home ice.

Drake Batherson replied for Ottawa, which also trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 last spring before eventually falling in six games. Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots.

Only four NHL teams have ever battled back to win a series after losing the first three contests.

And if the Senators have any shot at extending this series, their power play will need a major reset.

Ottawa’s disjointed man advantage went 0-for-5 and generated just four shots on target — including 98 seconds of 5-on-3 when Andersen had to make a solitary save — on the way to falling to 0-for-12 against an ultra-aggressive penalty kill.

“Didn’t really create anything, no momentum, nothing,” Senators centre Tim Stutzle said. “(We’ve) got to make quicker plays.”

Andersen said the Hurricanes are still building their game up 3-0.

“You just want to keep taking steps,” he said. “That was a really good grind.”

Carolina, which made the Eastern Conference final two of the last three years and is this season’s top seed in the bracket, snapped a 1-1 tie with 2:31 left in the second, moments after Ottawa got on the board inside a pulsating rink.

K’Andre Miller moved down the left side before finding Blake with a cross-ice feed he buried into an yawning net.

The line of Hall, Stankoven and Blake have combined for 13 points in a series that’s featured very little room in the offensive zone.

“They’ve been really special,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re contributing and putting goals up for us … playing very, very well.”

The Senators started to push with under nine minutes to go in regulation, but the Hurricanes again gave up very little in front of Andersen in securing a 3-0 stranglehold.

“If there’s one thing this group has done all year, it’s not give up,” Ottawa defenceman Thomas Chabot said. “We stick with it and that’s not going to change.”

The home side was again undone by a familiar nemesis to open the scoring.

After the Senators had a chance off the rush, the visitors raced the other way and Stankoven buried his third of the series — and third opening goal in as many games to set a playoff franchise record — at 5:13 of the first.

Ottawa had two power-play looks early in the second, but didn’t do much with the extra man.

The second Carolina penalty came when Hall was whistled for an illegal check to the head on Sanderson — his helmet flew off — that left both the Senators and their left fans calling for a major.

Head coach Travis Green talked about frustration creeping into his man advantage in Game 2, and Thursday’s crowd showed its own angst with boos after disjointed zone entries, missed passes and a stunning lack of cohesion.

The Senators got a third opportunity and then that long 5-on-3, but again did next to nothing. Sanderson was out for the two-man advantage, but departed shortly thereafter and didn’t return.

Green, who just got Tyler Kleven back and is still missing Artem Zub on the blue line, said Sanderson’s exit was due to the hit.

“I just don’t understand how there’s not a five-minute major called on the hit to the head,” Green added. “It’s (a) blatant hit to the head, the kind of hits you don’t want to see.

“Ridiculous there wasn’t a review.”

Tkachuk moved in alone on Andersen later in the period only to have his backhand kicked aside. The gritty winger slammed the bench door in another moment of anger.

Batherson finally got the Senators on the board at 16:06 of the second when Carolina forward Jordan Martinook pushed the puck back over his team’s blue line with two Senators still inside the zone.

Nick Cousins found Batherson on a mini 2-on-1 and he roofed a backhand upstairs before Blake silenced the crowd 1:23 later to nudge Ottawa towards the brink.

“Give absolutely everything we have,” Tkachuk said of what will keep the season going. “It’s frustrating now, but fourth one’s the hardest to win. I still believe in this group.

“It’s going to make a hell of a story.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.