{"id":555139,"date":"2026-04-18T09:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/555139\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T09:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:16:11","slug":"hurricanes-vs-senators-round-one-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/555139\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricanes vs. Senators: Round One, Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re finally there: the postseason. The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Ottawa Senators at home in Raleigh, officially kicking off the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the first game on the NHL\u2019s list.<\/p>\n<p>The game is scheduled for 3:00 PM EDT.<\/p>\n<p>During the regular season, the Hurricanes had one of their best seasons on record, reaching second in franchise history in both wins and points, scoring the most goals in team history, and taking the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time ever.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Senators battled through an immensely brutal Atlantic Division, managing to clinch their spot in the postseason just last Saturday, doing so with a win over the New York Islanders as the Detroit Red Wings lost to the New Jersey Devils.<\/p>\n<p>I recently went into a deep analysis, with many comparisons and stats between both of these teams, in the Playoff Primer. <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nhl\/carolina-hurricanes\/playoff-primer-full-hurricanes-senators-round-one-schedule-how-to-watch-and-matchup-breakdown\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">You can read all about it here<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>In the Crease<\/p>\n<p>During the Hurricanes\u2019 two latest practices, Frederik Andersen had the starter\u2019s crease in both. However, after practice Friday, head coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour was tight-lipped on who would get the game 1 start, citing that he had not yet spoken to goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder.<\/p>\n<p>This season, Frederik Andersen has notched a .874 save percentage, with a goals against average of 3.05 across a 16-14-5 record. Additionally, Brandon Bussi has had a .894 save percentage and a 2.47 goals against average across a 31-6-2 record.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark has been the number one man in Ottawa since he was acquired in the 2024 offseason. It is all but certain that he will take the start against the Hurricanes Saturday afternoon. This season, he has managed a save percentage of .891, with a goals against average of 2.73 across a 28-12-8 record. Furthermore, James Reimer will likely serve as his backup goaltender, after having earned a .885 save percentage and a 2.42 goals against average across a 7-4-2 record.<\/p>\n<p>Expected Carolina Hurricanes Lines<\/p>\n<p>Andrei Svechnikov \u2013 Sebastian Aho \u2013 Seth Jarvis<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Hall \u2013 Logan Stankoven \u2013 Jackson Blake<\/p>\n<p>Nikolaj \u2013 Ehlers \u2013 Jordan Staal \u2013 Jordan Martinook<\/p>\n<p>William Carrier \u2013 Mark Jankowski \u2013 Eric Robinson<\/p>\n<p>Defense<\/p>\n<p>Jaccob Slavin \u2013 Jalen Chatfield<\/p>\n<p>K\u2019Andre Miller \u2013 Sean Walker<\/p>\n<p>Shayne Gostisbehere \u2013 Alexander Nikishin<\/p>\n<p>Goaltenders<\/p>\n<p>Frederik Andersen \/ Brandon Bussi<\/p>\n<p>Expected Ottawa Senators Lines<\/p>\n<p>Drake Batherson \u2013 Tim St\u00fctzle \u2013 Claude Giroux<\/p>\n<p>Brady Tkachuk \u2013 Dylan Cozens \u2013 Ridly Greig<\/p>\n<p>Nick Cousins \u2013 Shane Pinto \u2013 Michael Amadio<\/p>\n<p>Warren Foegele \u2013 Lars Eller \u2013 Fabian Zetterlund<\/p>\n<p>Defense<\/p>\n<p>Jake Sanderson \u2013 Artem Zub<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Chabot \u2013 Jordan Spence<\/p>\n<p>Dennis Gilbert \u2013 Nikolas Matinpalo<\/p>\n<p>Goaltenders<\/p>\n<p>Linus Ullmark \/ James Reimer<\/p>\n<p>Special Teams<\/p>\n<p>Carolina Hurricanes power play: 24.9% (4th)<br \/>Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 80.5% (11th)<\/p>\n<p>Ottawa Senators power play: 24.0% (8th)<br \/>Ottawa Senators penalty kill: 75.7% (29th)<\/p>\n<p>Hurricanes Game Notes<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes may be able to get help from another goaltender for the postseason in Pyotr Kochetkov, who has missed most of the season after an injury requiring surgery. After a conditioning stint with the Hurricanes\u2019 AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, he was recalled and initially the choice in their 82nd game, but was ultimately held off due to a roster issue.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves are also headed for the playoffs soon, having clinched the second spot in the AHL\u2019s Central Division.<\/p>\n<p>This will be the first time since 2006 that the Hurricanes have faced a Canadian team in the postseason. Then, it was the Edmonton Oilers, whom they defeated in the Stanley Cup Finals.<\/p>\n<p>How To Watch<\/p>\n<p>TV: ESPN, FDSNSO, SN, OMNI, TVAS<br \/>Radio: 99.9 The Fan<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img alt=\"avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776503732_56_ab783896b73f675bc93cb7c5b0a070ee9f363e9b6b751c7e80dcfd1fd7431eb5.png\"  class=\"avatar avatar-70 photo\" height=\"70\" width=\"70\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\tRachel  Barkley  is  a  beat  writer  covering  the  Carolina  Hurricanes  for  Carolina  Hockey  Now  on  Sportsnaut.  Painting  stories  with  &#8230; More about <a class=\"more-bio\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/author\/rbarkley\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rachel Barkley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re finally there: the postseason. The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Ottawa Senators at home in Raleigh, officially&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5104],"tags":[20557,29,1239,6187,5,2603,4,72,25,5157,73],"class_list":{"0":"post-555139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ottawa-senators","8":"tag-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","10":"tag-frederik-andersen","11":"tag-goaltending","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-how-to-watch","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-ottawa","16":"tag-ottawa-senators","17":"tag-ottawasenators","18":"tag-senators"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116424958191626964","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}