The Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes didn’t need long to ignite their first-round playoff matchup, as Game 1 opened with immediate intensity and physicality. With both teams looking to set the tone for what promises to be a hard-fought series, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk made sure the message was delivered loud and clear.
Senators’ Brady Tkachuk Sends Early Message
Only three seconds into the opening faceoff, Tkachuk squared off with Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, igniting a fight that energized the crowd. Tkachuk threw a couple of right hands before Staal answered with punches of his own, eventually bringing Tkachuk down to the ice before officials stepped in.
Both players were assessed five-minute majors for fighting.
PLAYOFFS, BABY pic.twitter.com/ynnErSCDSS
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 18, 2026
After the game, Tkachuk said the goal was simply to signal the kind of battle he expects. “I mean, just wanna show it’s gonna be a long series and he wanted to do the same thing. So, guess building loved it, got the energy going, got playoffs started for the whole league, yeah.”
Despite the early momentum, Ottawa fell 2-0 in Game 1. With no scoring in the first period, Logan Stankoven broke the deadlock at 2:11 of the second, finishing a quick passing sequence from Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall with a snap shot that slipped under Linus Ullmark’s left pad.
The Senators appeared to tie the game at 3:54 of the third when Drake Batherson jammed the puck at the crease, but video review ruled it never crossed the line following a glove save by Frederik Andersen.
Hall later added insurance at 7:15 of the third, poking in a loose puck during a scramble after Ullmark stopped another attempt from Alexander Nikishin.
Tkachuk felt the game was tighter than the score suggested. “I thought we played a really solid game. There weren’t many chances on both sides of the puck there. Two good bounces for them end up in the back of the net… They’re always on top of you. They’re always in the right spots and you can see that they blocked a lot of shots, especially at the end, but all game they’re sacrificing their bodies,” Tkachuk said.
The Hurricanes entered the series as Metropolitan Division champions after posting a 53-22-7 record for 113 points, while the Senators secured the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot at 44-27-11 (99 points). The winner of the matchup will advance to face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round.
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Game 2 is set for Monday at the Lenovo Center, where both teams will look to build on an already heated start to the series.
