Carolina Hurricanes Extinguish the Ottawa Senators’ Playoff Run In Game 4

Katherine Hirsche
Ottawa Senators center Lars Eller (89) seizes the opportunity to capitalize on a rebound by Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen (31).

Although the Ottawa Senators played a good game on April 25, they lost 4-2 on home ice in Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes, which was very physical and featured several fights.

Ottawa Tries To Hang On In Game 4

After losing the first three games of the series against the No. 2 seed, the Senators were in a desperate situation and did what they could to keep their playoffs alive. That meant quite a bit of fighting from both teams.

Alexander Nikishin of the Hurricanes sustained a head injury after getting high-sticked by the Senators’ Tyler Kleven and left the game with a likely concussion. He will have a few days to recover, as the Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins series is not yet over. Nikishin is a top player for the Hurricanes, as is Nikolaj Ehlers, who missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury.

Ottawa was missing its top defensemen, Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub, who sustained injuries in Game 2 and Game 1, respectively. Ottawa had a boisterous home crowd to spur them on, but that didn’t stop Carolina’s Taylor Hall from scoring first, giving his team four straight opening goals in the series. The Senators hadn’t scored on a single one of 17 power plays until Drake Batherson scored late into the first period to tie the game, an impressive feat.

Sebastian Aho scored twice, sandwiching the Senators’ Dylan Cozens’ goal, after breakout star Logan Stankoven broke the tie for the Hurricanes in the third period. Stankoven scored the opening goal in the first three rounds and has now scored in all four games of the series.

Game 4 Reactions

Ottawa players and coaches expressed their disappointment at being eliminated in Round 1. “It’s heartbreaking,” said team captain Brady Tkachuk. “Really tight series. Give credit to them. They’re a great team, play hard, don’t give you much. I think everybody in this room gave absolutely everything they had to try and extend this series and yeah, it’s tough.”

Last year, Ottawa lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games in the first round. “This year, we probably played a lot better than last year,” Ottawa Head Coach Travis Green said. “I mean we lost four in a row. It was a different series. And I think we have taken a lot of steps this year to really having a lot of belief that we’re a lot closer than we were to hopefully competing for a Stanley Cup.”

The Hurricanes had a much brighter outlook, as could be expected. Goalie Frederik Anderson was a standout performer for his team in all four games, and Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour had many positive things to say about his performance.” Can’t understate that, especially when you want to consider how well the other guy [Linus Ullmark] was playing there in their end, it was a goalie matchup. They were going save for save, and we needed it. Otherwise, this thing could have gone a lot different. It’s probably the best hockey he’s played for us.” 

Anderson is currently 2nd in the NHL in GAA with 1.28, with Ullmark ranking 6th with 2.03. Anderson is 2nd in SV% (0.955), and Ullmark sits 5th (0.932). Anderson, with one shutout in the playoffs, is tied for 1st. The Hurricanes’ K’Andre Miller has 3 assists to tie for 4th in the NHL so far.

Round 2 Awaits the Hurricanes

While it’s not decided whether the Hurricanes will play the Philadelphia Flyers or the Pittsburgh Penguins yet, Round 2 will bring a strong opponent for the overall No. 2 seed, who will need their players back from injury as soon as possible.