Carolina Hurricanes Defeat Ottawa Senators 2-1 in Game 3 of NHL Playoffs

April 23, 2026 – The Carolina Hurricanes secured a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, taking a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Logan Stankoven opened the scoring for Carolina at 5:13 of the first period, finishing a play set up by Taylor Hall and Eric Robinson. Jackson Blake extended the Hurricanes’ lead to 2-0 at 17:29 of the second period, assisted by K’Andre Miller and Taylor Hall.

The Senators responded with a goal from Drake Batherson at 16:06 of the second period, Nick Cousins collecting the assist. That would be Ottawa’s only goal of the game.

Carolina outshot Ottawa 27-22, with Frederik Andersen making 21 saves on 22 shots for the win. Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 25 of 27 shots faced.

Penalties played a role in the game’s flow, with both teams spending time in the box. Ottawa received penalties for high sticking (Michael Amadio), interference (Drake Batherson), and too many men on the ice (Brady Tkachuk). Carolina was penalized for hooking (Sebastian Aho, Jalen Chatfield), illegal check to the head (Taylor Hall), too many men (Andrei Svechnikov), and tripping (Jordan Martinook).

The win puts the Hurricanes one victory away from advancing to the second round. Ottawa now faces elimination, needing to win four straight games to avoid a series sweep.

Game 4 is scheduled for April 25, 2026, again at Canadian Tire Centre.