The Ottawa Senators’ first-round playoff run came to an end with a 4-2 loss in Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes, who completed a 4-0 sweep to advance to Round 2. There weren’t too many positives to take from this edition of the playoffs for Brady Tkachuk and the rest of the crew, but the Senators captain’s assessment of their battle with Carolina came across as borderline delusional to some NHL analysts.
Brady Tkachuk Draws Heat After Sweep
Ottawa’s path to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs was one of the season’s biggest comeback stories. After sitting near the bottom of the standings in January, the Senators surged late in the year to grab the second Eastern Conference Wild Card spot, finishing 44-27-11.
That set up a tough first-round matchup with the Metropolitan Division-winning Hurricanes, who posted a 53-22-7 record.
The series, however, never tilted Ottawa’s way. The Senators dropped Game 1 by a 2-0 score, suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 double-overtime loss in Game 2, fell 2-1 in Game 3, and were eliminated with a 4-2 defeat in Game 4. The sweep echoed last season’s first-round exit, when Ottawa lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.
Following the loss, an emotional Brady Tkachuk spoke through tears about how painful another early exit felt. Asked how this compared to last year’s elimination, Tkachuk said, “I mean, it’s kind of the same, just heartbreaking. You want to just win the Stanley Cup and everyone believed that here, and for it to be this tight of a series and not go our way. Every game, it’s really tough.”
But Tkachuk’s remark about this being a “tight series” didn’t sit well with many fans and analysts, especially considering Ottawa never held a lead in the series and Tkachuk was held pointless through all four games.
NHL editor Matt Drake took a jab, writing, “I would have suggested scoring any number of points greater than zero as a possible solution,” a pointed reference to Tkachuk’s scoreless series. National Post columnist Chris Selley responded even more bluntly, posting only a clown emoji, a post that quickly captured the tone of much of the online reaction.
Senators reporter Jack Richardson pointed to Ottawa’s offensive struggles, noting that Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto, Claude Giroux, and Thomas Chabot all finished the series without a single point, adding sarcastically, “I wonder why they got swept.”
Analyst Nic also joined the criticism, mocking Tkachuk’s “tight series” remark by pointing out the Senators never held a lead at any point in the matchup.
Fair or not, the backlash reflects the frustration surrounding a team that fought so hard to reach the playoffs, only to bow out without a win. While the Senators showed resilience getting there, their inability to generate offense against Carolina raised serious questions heading into the offseason.
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Now Ottawa enters the summer with plenty to sort out before next season, while the Hurricanes move on to Round 2, where they’ll face the winner of the Penguins-Flyers series, currently led 3-1 by Philadelphia.
