For the third game in a row, Center Logan Stankoven scored the opening goal against the Senators to give the Hurricanes an early lead.
After going up two games to none in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes (53-22-7) hoped to keep that momentum going on the road and did exactly that as they suffocated the Ottawa Senators (44-27-11) 2-1. The Hurricanes defended their zone well, limiting the Senators to 22 shots on goal and only letting one through.
Just over five minutes into the opening frame, winger Taylor Hall skated the puck into Carolina’s offensive zone and took the shot that started the play. After a deflected puck went sideways, Hall collected the puck and wrapped around the net looking for an open lane. Stankoven, positioned across the paint, signaled for the puck and snapped it home, putting up the first goal.
The Hurricanes answered quickly late in the second period, less than two minutes after the tying goal from Ottawa. Hall bodied the defenders off the puck, keeping possession in the Senators’ zone. He got the puck out wide to defender K’Andre Miller, who faked the shot and forced goaltender Linus Ullmark off his line. This left plenty of space for winger Jackson Blake to skate onto the pass from Miller and dump it far post in the back of the net, before Ullmark could adjust, marking the game-winner.
Before the goal from Blake, the Canes suffered a defensive breakdown, and winger Jordan Martinook knocked the puck back into their zone, eliminating Ottawa’s chance to be offside. Not having to check up, center Nick Cousins picked up the puck, and with no defenders on him, passed to winger Drake Batherson near the paint. Pulling goaltender Frederik Andersen one way, he dragged the puck back to his left side and flicked it up over the shoulder of Andersen, marking only the third goal of the series for Ottawa.
Special teams, being such a huge piece in the game, struggled on both sides of the ice. Neither team could capitalize on the power play: Ottawa went 0-for-5 and the Canes went 0-for-4. Both teams look to polish up their man-advantage play before the series continues.
The Hurricanes stay in Ottawa for Game 4, hoping to close out the series on Saturday, April 25, at 3 p.m.
