The puck drops on the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs on Saturday afternoon with the wild-card Ottawa Senators visiting Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes are -148 for the opener on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5 goals.

Senators vs. Hurricanes NHL Betting Odds

These days, it’s rare to say two teams have never faced off in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but these franchises have not. Carolina finished with an Eastern Conference-best 113 points and thus would have home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup Finals short of facing Colorado there. Ottawa earned the East’s last wild-card spot, finishing a point behind Boston for the top one. That would have meant perhaps a bit easier first-round matchup against Atlantic Division champion Buffalo.

It’s the eighth straight playoff berth for the Hurricanes, and they begin with home-ice advantage for the sixth time in a row. They have reached the East Finals three times in that stretch, including last year, but lost each time. The Senators are in the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2011-12 and ’12-13 campaigns. Ottawa lost in six games last year to Toronto.

Since the start of March, these are two of the best clubs in the league. The Hurricanes were 15-7-1 in that span with only Philadelphia winning more total games. Ottawa was 15-5-3.

Carolina won the regular-season series 2-1, and that 6-3 loss in Ottawa on April 5 is a bit misleading as the Hurricanes rested some key guys. On this series line, Canes are -170 and the Senators +145. I lean Carolina in six at +425.

Ottawa Senators

Jake Sanderson (1G, 3A), Tim Stutzle (3G, 1A) and Dylan Cozens (1G, 3A) led Ottawa with four points each in the season series vs. Carolina. James Reimer lost both his starts and Linus Ullmark won his – Ullmark will be in net Saturday. He was the guy last year vs. the Leafs in the playoffs and finished 2-4 with a 2.84 GAA and .880 SV. Ullmark’s.891 SV this season was the lowest in his 11-year career.

Ottawa finished with a 24.0 power play percentage, eighth in the NHL and among the best in franchise history. The Senators are one of the most physical teams in the league and led the NHL in hits with 1,050.

Blueliner Dylan Cozens tops the club with 215. They also tied for first with a 54.5 face-off percentage. Veteran Claude Giroux won a crazy 63.1 per cent, the best among all forwards in the league who took at least 500 draws. One major concerns is a penalty kill at only 75.7 per cent, 29th in the league.

Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina’s 53 wins this season were second-most in franchise history. Seth Jarvis (3G, 1A) led the Hurricanes with four points in the season series vs. Ottawa. Rookie Brandon Bussi won his two starts in net with only four goals allowed on 64 total shots, while former Maple Leaf Frederik Andersen lost his lone outing.

It is thought that Bussi will be the guy entering the playoffs despite no post-season experience. He was terrific this season at 31-6-2 with a 2.47 GAA, .895 SV and two shutouts. Only six goaltenders in NHL history had more wins in their first NHL campaign.

Carolina is a very deep, terrific offensive club (13 guys with double-digit goals) that ranked second in goals per game (3.55) and fourth on the power play (24.9 per cent). As noted, this is the first-ever playoff series between the clubs. Carolina has an all-time record of 8-7 in its first series against a franchise, while Ottawa is 7-5.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Senators vs. Hurricanes Game 1?