The Carolina Hurricanes have jumped out to a 1-0 series lead in their first round series against the Ottawa Senators thanks to a 2-0 shutout win Saturday afternoon at Lenovo Center. Here are 10 observations from the win: Carolina takes a 1-0 series lead -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. FREDERIK ANDERSEN: THE RIGHT CHOICE There was a lot made about Rod Brind'Amour's decision to start Frederik Andersen in Game 1 in Ottawa, but I think it's safe to say that no one has any issues with that choice now. Andersen was outstanding for Carolina, stopping all 22 shots he faced, and that was especially so down the stretch, as he made 13 saves in the third period alone, including three, really key ones. On the same penalty kill near the start of the third period, Andersen first stopped Drake Batherson in tight with his pad and then robbed him on the rebound attempt too. The second effort shot was originally ruled a goal by the on-ice officials, but after review, it was determined that Andersen had miraculously stopped the puck before it cross the goal line. Then after the goal was called back, Andersen stopped Brady Tkachuk right from the dead slot. It was a stellar performance for the veteran netminder and one that proved he was the right choice for Game 1. "You're looking for a goalie to make saves at the right time and that was the right time," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That's what he did tonight. I don't even know how to explain it. That was exactly the game right there and he was up for the challenge tonight." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. JORDAN STAAL SETTING THE TONE It was certainly an unorthodox start to the game and the series as a whole as captain faced off against captain for a quick fight right at the drop of the puck. Staal and Tkachuk each got some blows in, with Staal ultimately getting the takedown, and the bout certainly woke up the crowd and the Hurricanes. "Obviously a physical guy, plays hard," Staal said. "He wanted to go, so it's part of the gig. Obviously those Tkachuk brothers, they play hard and physical and they play that style of game which is hard to play against and he's no different. It was an interesting start, for sure." Captains Throw Down To Open 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/1c6873d4-ebdc-47f9-a72b-c5516c940882.jpeg] Captains Throw Down To Open 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Playoff intensity ignited immediately! Captains Staal and Tkachuk dropped the gloves, setting a fierce tone for the Hurricanes-Senators opening round clash. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/captains-throw-down-to-open-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs] The Carolina captain has been asked to do so much for this team over the years and it seems like he only continues to elevate in these positions. "He does it one way all the time and that's the right way," Andersen said. "I think he's very in tune with the way he has to play and I think he executes that on a nightly basis." Not only did he energize the home side, but he then went out there and played his game, shutting down the Senators at both 5v5 and on the PK. Staal finished the game with 16:20 of ice time and in that span, had four hits, two shots, was 55% in the dot (the only centerman on the team to win over 50%) and kept one of the Senators best lines off the board. "He never ceases to keep impressing," Brind'Amour said. "He was obviously great tonight and it's pretty much every night. When is he not? Does his thing, so give him a lot of credit." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. DEJA VU The fight from the captain also reminded me of another similar situation. Back in 2020, Hurricanes captain Justin Williams ended up setting the tone for his squad early into Game 1 of their first round series. In that game, he was challenged to a fight by New York Rangers center Ryan Strome less than three minutes into the game and the captain accepted the bout, which wound up energizing his team even further. Carolina went on to win that game 3-2 and the series 3-0. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. SECOND LINE KEEPS CHUGGING ALONG Since the Olympic break, the Hurricanes second line of Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall has been their best line. Over that span, they've controlled a 64% edge in scoring chances and were the Canes' highest scoring line, converting 19 times across 23 games. However, many fans were worried that their game wouldn't translate to the postseason due to their size. Well, it might just be one game, but that was a thoroughly impressive outing for the trio. The line outchanced Ottawa 17-3, with an 11-2 edge in scoring chances and a 9-0 edge in high-danger chances. Oh, and they scored the only two goals in the game. "I think we just provide some secondary scoring for our team," Stankoven said. "I think we have a lot of depth and I think as the season's gone on and since the break, our line's been clicking pretty good and we've been able to just find each other. I think we're all hungry to track pucks and we're not afraid to go to the net and we can use our speed to our advantage. I think that's something we just try to bring every night." The Hurricanes need everyone pulling on the rope if they want to be successful this postseason, but they especially need their top-six consistently showing up just like that. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. EXTRA EFFORTS Playoff hockey is all about ramping up the physicality and desperation. Two ways to do that is by laying hits and blocking shots and Carolina did a great job with both Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes actually outhit the Senators 57-39, even despite both being smaller overall and controlling the puck way more than Ottawa did. Andrei Svechnikov led the way with eight hits and every player except two (Jackson Blake and Jaccob Slavin) had at least one. In fact, 11 players had at least three hits on the night for Carolina. "It's playoff hockey and the first round is always... everybody's just got all the energy in the world and that's kind of what you expect," Brind'Amour said. Carolina also finished the night with 11 blocked shots, six of which came in the final five minutes of the game. With Ottawa pushing with both a power play and a pulled netminder, the Canes came up with multiple key blocks to preserve the shutout and win for their team. "Blocked shots are huge this time of year," Andersen said. "I think there's always breakdowns, never a perfect game, but we know when to kind of sellout and help each other out. That's huge and it's gonna be very important every game down the line every night. Continue with that. It was a big part of why we got the win tonight." "We've been talking about the little extras we need to have to win games and blocking shots is another aspect of playoffs that you have to do if you want to win," Staal said. "Walks with some big blocks and a bunch of different guys were willing to get in lanes and help out Freddie." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. SPECIAL TEAMS Just glancing at the box score, it wasn't a good outing for the Hurricanes on the power play. The Canes had five power play opportunities, including essentially two minutes of 5-on-3 action, just split amongst two separate instances. Those are the kinds of opportunities you have to cash in on, and the Hurricanes weren't able to, but that was really more of a testament to Linus Ullmark than anything. Carolina had seven total shots on the man advantage. including two big moments, one with Shayne Gostisbehere sending a rocket after finding a loose puck in the slot and then Logan Stankoven finding space from the slot as well. "Listen, I thought we had a couple of good looks and I thought that was where both goalies rose to the occasion and kept their teams in it," Brind'Amour said. "We had some good looks, but didn't capitalize. The Hurricanes have to be confident with the chances they were getting, but you have to bury them at this time of the year. "Not overly happy with our power play chances," Stankoven said. "But I think every team, as a series goes on, makes adjustments, so we'll watch video and come back ready to go." On the flip side, the Canes did a really good job killing off the four Ottawa power plays. The first two kills were clinical, as the team didn't allow a single shot, but things got a bit dicey late in the game, however Andersen was up to the task luckily. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. ANDREI SVECHNIKOV LOOKS READY FOR THE POSTSEASON It was almost shocking that Andrei Svechnikov didn't get on the score sheet on Saturday. Right from the start, Svechnikov looked like a man possessed as he was flying around the ice, both delivering thunderous hits as well as generating dangerous look after dangerous look. He led the team in hits with eight. He led the team in shots on goal with six. He led the the team in shot attempts with 10. Svechnikov looked dangerous all night and that's a good sign for Carolina moving forward. The Russian power forward was the Hurricanes' best player last postseason and they need him to continue playing at a high level if they want to have a deep run this year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. INJURY CONCERNS ALREADY? Much like last year against the New Jersey Devils, it looks like the Carolina Hurricanes' first-round opponent already has injury concerns. Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub took just two shifts in the second period and after laying a hit on Seth Jarvis, he would not return to the game. Zub is a top-pairing defenseman for the Senators and has been one of the best defensive blueliners in the league this year. He plays big minutes, averaging nearly 24 per game and had 30 points on the year too. If he's going to miss time, that's a big blow to the Senators. Ottawa coach Travis Green did not have an update on him after the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. THIRD PAIR = OFFENSIVE GENERATORS Rod Brind'Amour and Tim Gleason have done a really good job all season of getting the pairing of Alexander Nikishin and Shayne Gostisbehere out on the ice with the second line. It's by far the Hurricanes' most offensively talented blueline pairing and the two have been able to elevate that tenacious trio even further due to their offensive accumen. Even though they didn't wind up with any points on the night, the pair was on the ice for both goals, and were key facilitators in each. On the first goal, Nikishin cuts off an attempted clear, and then manages to flip the puck across ice to an area where only Taylor Hall could play it, which eventually led to Logan Stankoven's goal. Then on the second one, it was Nikishin's heavy wrist shot that Ullmark couldn't hold onto, creating a loose puck situation that was again capitalized on by the second line. With the other two pairings being more focused on shutting down the Senators, those two have a lot of opportunity to create offense and they certainly delivered. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. FACEOFFS The Hurricanes are going to have to find ways to get an edge in the faceoff dots this series. Ottawa was the top faceoff team in the league this year and they had the edge again on Saturday, winning seven more draws than Carolina (56.4% vs. 43.6%). Only one player had a positive faceoff percentage for the Canes (Staal) and so there's a lot of room for improvement. Starting with the puck is so crucial to running plays, alleviating pressure, facilitating changes and that's especially true when it comes to special teams. Carolina did do a good job on the penalty kill, winning 6 out of 9 draws, but they really struggled in the dot on the power play, going just 5 for 14. You can tie back some of the power play struggles to that stat right there because the Canes hardly ever got to start with the puck and run their plays. Sebastian Aho had the toughest night, winning just 2 of his 18 draws. Winning faceoffs is going to be a challenge all series and could be the difference in a couple of goals here and there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RECENT ARTICLES Frederik Andersen To Start Game 1 For Carolina Against Ottawa [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/game-day/frederik-andersen-to-start-game-1-for-carolina-against-ottawa] Why This Year Could Be Different For Carolina [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/why-this-year-could-be-different-for-carolina] Biggest Areas Of Concern For Carolina Hurricanes Heading Into Playoffs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/biggest-areas-of-concern-for-carolina-hurricanes-heading-into-playoffs] Hurricanes Full First-Round Schedule Released [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/hurricanes-full-first-round-schedule-released] Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/2fc97c03-6cff-45e8-ae59-23b0632dfa24.jpeg] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! 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