Carolina's dominant second line and stellar goaltending paved the way for a playoff sweep, silencing the Senators and advancing past them with unwavering force.
For the first time since 2019, the Carolina Hurricanes have broken out the brooms.
With a 4-2 Game 4 win, the Hurricanes swept their first round opponent, the Ottawa Senators, winning all four games in the series.
It was a tight series between the two clubs, but in the end, it was clear that Carolina was just the better team.
The Hurricanes trailed for exactly 0:00 across the four games, and nearly led for longer than it was ever tied (Led for 134:05; Tied for 139:48).
The team outscored Ottawa 11-5 overall and it was the Canes' second line that primarily carried the offensive load.
The trio of Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake terrorized the Senators for four straight games and Ottawa was just never able to find an answer.
The line combined for five even strength goals (giving up zero) and controlled 65.31% of the scoring chances and 77.78% of the high-danger chances in their 5v5 minutes.
No Hurricanes line played more than they did either, Ottawa just couldn't stop them.
And while the power play as a whole wasn't great for Carolina in the series (13.3%), it was Stankoven, twice, who managed to find the back of the net on the man advantage, including the eventual go-ahead goal midway through the third period.
While those three carried the offense, it was a full team effort defensively.
The power play struggles weren't as accentuated in the series mostly because the Hurricanes' penalty kill was outstanding, killing off all but one across four games (95.2%).
In Game 4, the penalty kill was called upon nine separate times, including thrice for a 5v3 situation and it was only beaten once.
While all the team's PKers deserve praise, it was Jaccob Slavin who led the way, playing over 24 minutes shorthanded in the series.
But the biggest line of defense was by far Frederik Andersen in net.
There hasn't been a goalie better than the Danish netminder so far this postseason and his 0.955 save percentage is proof of just that.
Andersen was a man on a mission in that first round series and he just simply wasn't going to allow his team to lose.
The Hurricanes now await the winner of the Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers series, which Philly currently leads 3-0.
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