The Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings need a miracle to reverse-sweep their first-round playoff opponents. But this is what they can do to win Game 4.
Three different series in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs could end in a sweep.
Teams with a 3-0 series lead include the Philadelphia Flyers over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Carolina Hurricanes over the Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche over the Los Angeles Kings.
The odds are not in favor of the losing teams to crawl out from this divot and win the series. In fact, coming back from 3-0 down to win a round has only happened four times in NHL history.
That said, they'll want to avoid a sweep at the very least and take it one game at a time.
To avoid elimination after just four games, here are some adjustments that those teams on the brink should consider making for Game 4.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have come up a bit flat against a Flyers team that carries an abundance of energy, youth, physicality and peskiness.
Pittsburgh will need to step up in nearly all areas of the game, but one aspect that can be adjusted is the goaltending.
Stuart Skinner has an .873 save percentage, a 3.08 goals-against average and 2.8 goals saved below expected, according to moneypuck.com.
While some goalies have had great stats and no wins, and others have had at least one win and rough stats, Skinner has no wins and rough numbers.
Luckily, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas traded for Arturs Silovs last off-season.
Sure, Silovs didn't have a great regular season, registering an .888 SP, but he has a history of performing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
While playing for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2024 post-season, Silovs was called on to fill in for the injured Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. He stood tall for Vancouver under the bright lights, eliminating the Nashville Predators with a shutout victory.
Perhaps the Penguins could use some of that magic from Silovs in Game 4 to keep their season alive.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators are vividly frustrated with the way the Hurricanes have shut them down in the first three games of this series.
In fact, Ottawa has scored the fewest goals in the first round so far, despite being a top-10 team offensively during the regular season.
They had some bad luck, but ultimately, the team's core hasn't been getting it done. Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Thomas Chabot, Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto are all without a point while averaging at least 21 minutes of ice time.
The Senators are also 0-for-12 on the power play in the series. In Thursday's game, there were multiple instances where the team couldn't complete simple passes in the offensive zone to set up, or even to enter the zone.
At this point, there's not much else for coach Travis Green to do other than shake up Ottawa's top-six forward group again and even the top power-play unit. His current lineup hasn't been able to get the job done, and at least it'll throw a new look at the dominant Hurricanes. It could help them win more puck battles and bombard Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen.
Los Angeles Kings
Against the mighty Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche, the Kings have been putting up a respectable fight in terms of holding down Colorado's superstars and keeping the games close.
However, it just hasn't been clicking for Los Angeles offensively, which has been the case nearly all year long.
Before Game 3's 4-2 defeat on Thursday, the Kings had scored only two goals, both power-play markers by Artemi Panarin. In Game 3, they finally got on the board at even strength, but it didn't matter for the result.
In Thursday's contest, the Kings' top line of Panarin, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe finished with a minus-three rating each. Not only that, but Panarin's three points this series and Kempe's lone goal have all come on the power play, meaning they're yet to register an even-strength point.
With that in mind, it could be time for interim coach D.J. Smith to tinker with his first line and break up that trio in hopes the Kings can score more than two goals in Game 4.
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