Andersen shuts out the Senators in a tense playoff opener that featured some early fireworks.
Frederik Andersen made 22 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes opened the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2–0 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Logan Stankoven, who was under the weather the last few days, was obviously feeling much better on Saturday afternoon, leading the way with a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.
The game started with some early excitement, as for the third time in less than a month, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk squared off in a fight before the opening faceoff against the opposing captain.
After brawling with Anders Lee in a pair of games against the Islanders down the stretch, Tkachuk and Jordan Staal went at it to try and set the tone.
After a tight, defensive struggle in a scoreless first period, Stankoven opened the scoring on what seemed like a harmless shot from the slot that was partially blocked by the stick of Shane Pinto. The deflection slowly dribbled through Linus Ullmark’s legs for the game’s opening goal.
The Senators appeared to tie the game when Andersen made a glove save, and it looked like his trapper may have gone into his own net with the puck. However, replays showed that was not the case.
Carolina got another break on their second goal, credited to Taylor Hall. A shot from the point deflected over top of Ullmark, landing near his skate while he was on his knees, and Hall jammed in the loose puck to make it 2–0.
The Senators caught a break with about 2:30 left in the game. With their goalie pulled, Jalen Chatfield was called for delay of game after sending the puck over the glass, setting up a 6 on 4. The Sens unleashed plenty of shots, but Carolina's D held strong to preserve the win.
"We had a couple of close ones that almost went in and Ully played great," Sens winger Drake Batherson said. "Obviously, anytime you give a team two 5-on-3's you've got to make some saves. Yeah, I just thought we didn't get any breaks, but I thought we played pretty well."
Both teams played well defensively and shorthanded, combining to go 9-0 on the penalty kill.
"I didn't mind our game," head coach Travis Green said. "Pretty tight-checking game. Not a lot of space really for either team. Probably if you look at the numbers, I haven't seen them yet, but they probably deserved to win analytically, and they did."
The style of game and the tight checking was no surprise to Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour.
"Everybody out there was giving it all they had," Brind'Amour said. "And that was what you saw. You explained it perfectly. I mean, there was not a lot of room and everybody was fighting for everything."
Meanwhile, there seems to be no end to the injury troubles on Ottawa's blue line. After a big hit on Seth Jarvis, Artem Zub left the game and did not return. Prior to that, Dennis Gilbert suffered what appeared to be a left shoulder injury after a hit from behind but gutted it out and stayed in the game.
So Carolina leads the best-of-seven 1-0, with Game 2 is Monday night in Raleigh.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
The Farm System Everyone Doubted Helped Save The Senators Season
Rick Bowness Clarifies That Only Some Of His Players "Don't Care"
Rod Brind'Amour Describes Senators As 'A Huge Challenge' In Round One
Through All The Noise, The Playoff-Bound Senators Held Their Ground
Brady Tkachuk Describes Brief Vision Loss During Game As 'Weird And Scary'