The Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers' power plays were nearly shut out in their 4-0 series losses to the Carolina Hurricanes. Players on Ottawa and Philly were left wondering what on earth happened.
Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators should feel a bit better about themselves after what the Carolina Hurricanes did to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Hurricanes remain undefeated after two rounds in the 2026 playoffs, and they swept the Flyers in nearly the same way they did against the Senators two weeks beforehand – by being so strong on defense that those teams and some of their star players were left with embarrassing stats.
"Still having a tough time wrapping my head around it and still, let's be honest, a little rattled about it," Tkachuk said in last Wednesday's episode of Wingmen.
Carolina didn't score very much, but the penalty kill, defense and goaltending seemed to get under the skin of its opponents more than anything.
The Hurricanes' penalty kill, in particular, stood out the most, given the reaction from their opponents.
"Our power play was awful," Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot told reporters after a Game 3 loss in which they went 0-for-5 and didn't generate much on a 5-on-3.
"The power play lost us the game," said Tkachuk, who faced criticism for going without a point in the series.
Flyers captain Sean Couturier had a similar comment when his team failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play after Game 3 of their second-round series.
"You can win games with the power play, and you can lose games with the penalty kill," he told reporters.
"They're one of the best PKs in the league for a couple years now, but we definitely got to be better. It's been like that all year, and we got to find a way to create more, bring more pucks to the net."
It's tough to bring pucks to the net when the Hurricanes rarely give the opportunity to make a play in the zone.
The shorthanded Canes applied pressure at their defensive blueline to try to swipe away pucks and take possession from the Flyers and Senators. When the opponents broke through into the zone, there often appeared to be at least one player applying aggressive pressure, which kept Ottawa and Philadelphia to the perimeter.
Carolina's penalty kill worked incredibly well through the first two rounds. They've allowed two power-play goals against on 40 times shorthanded.
Ottawa went 1-for-21 on the power play, while Philadelphia was 1-for-19. While the Flyers have ranked near or at the bottom of the NHL in power-play success rate over the past five years, the Senators ranked eighth in the regular season.
Despite being shorthanded for longer than every team but Philadelphia and the Montreal Canadiens in these playoffs so far, the Hurricanes have conceded the fewest shots and shot attempts of any team that made it to the second round, according to naturalstattrick.com.
"It's fun to be out there, and obviously it's better when we don't get scored on," Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin told reporters of killing 5-on-3s. "We got to make sure we dial in in the later rounds. It's going to be extremely important to not have to kill those off, so we have to do a better job of being disciplined."
That elite penalty-killing is just one part of the squad's overall effective defense, as is the goaltending from Frederik Andersen, who has a .950 save percentage and 1.12 goals-against average through eight games.
Just like the team did in the regular season, Carolina's averaging the fewest shots against of any squad still in the playoffs. Philadelphia did average the fifth-fewest shots-for during the regular season, but Ottawa had the ninth-most, so it's not all about those teams simply making the Hurricanes and Andersen look good.
"I know it seems like it's coming to us pretty easy, but it's not," left winger Taylor Hall told Sportsnet's Shawn McKenzie after the Game 4 overtime win that swept Philadelphia. "Our PK has been amazing. Freddie (Andersen) in net has been dynamite."
The Hurricanes ultimately limited Trevor Zegras and Porter Martone to two points each, Tim Stutzle, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier to one point each, and Tkachuk to zero.
Keep in mind that Tkachuk had 22 goals and 59 points in 60 regular-season games despite missing time due to injury, and he recorded five points in six games at the Olympics, so he's still an elite power forward and an important leader for the Senators.
"I think I've showed it in the past that those are the games that I show up in and play well and leave an impact, and I don't think anybody's more frustrated with how everything went than me," Tkachuk told reporters on April 29. "At the end of the day, didn't play good enough, and (I) tried doing everything in my power to get my game going, make an impact, and just felt like nothing was going in, nothing was going my way."
The Senators and Flyers recalled rueing some missed chances throughout the series, such as Stutzle and Flyers youngster Alex Bump not capitalizing on Grade-A chances in the low slot, and Tkachuk and Konecny not scoring on breakaways.
But in last Wednesday's episode of Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, the Senators captain gave Carolina massive praise after looking at their series against Philadelphia.
"They just don't give you much," Tkachuk said. "Carolina, I just feel like they're all buzzing right now. That second line's playing great. I mean, just every line's a threat in their own way. The top line, so much skill. The second line, they're still producing. Third line is one of the hardest lines to play against in the league. They're just always above you… fourth line, same thing."
Tkachuk then said the Hurricanes' defensemen have the best sticks he's ever seen in terms of knocking pucks loose and blocking lanes. Jaccob Slavin, in particular, probably has the best in the league, he said.
"I remember I had two grade-As, hits a stick, it's in the netting," Tkachuk said. "I'm like, 'How on earth is that not in the back of the net?' "
Whether the Hurricanes make their next opponent – or opponents – in these playoffs wondering what on earth happened, remains to be seen. But we have seen a team that is relentlessly determined to prevent chances and do what's needed to get over the finish line, as well as two opposing teams that look shocked by what happened.
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