RALEIGH, N.C. \u2014 Jordan Martinook returned to the Hurricanes\u2019 dressing room at Lenovo Center, still processing all of his emotions from the first overtime period on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Moments earlier, Martinook and his teammates were overjoyed in swarming Carolina forward Mark Jankowski after what appeared to be the winning goal against the Senators in Game 2 of their first-round matchup.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou exhale,\u201dMartinook said. \u201cYou think it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a lengthy offside review, though, Martinook was determined to have entered the offensive zone in an offside position, nullifying Jankowski\u2019s goal. Except that, in between, a delayed penalty was also called on Ottawa\u2019s Warren Foegele, who hooked Martinook on a breakaway.<\/p>\n
No Stanley Cup playoff game has ever ended on a penalty shot in overtime, but Martinook was thwarted in his history-making attempt<\/a> by Senators goalie Linus Ullmark. And while he saw the benefits of having time to \u201cregroup\u201d over the ensuing intermission, he admitted to not feeling good about himself as he prepared for the second overtime.<\/p>\n Given another chance to play hero, Martinook converted. At 13:53 of the second overtime, he took a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers in the slot and whipped a wrister past Ullmark to send Carolina to a 3-2 win and a 2-0 series lead.<\/p>\n \u201cHockey\u2019s crazy,\u201d Martinook said. \u201cSports are crazy. Being able to score after that, I\u2019ll tell my grandkids about that one.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canes had raced out to a 2-0 advantage in the game, thanks to goals from Logan Stankoven and Sebastian Aho, before the Senators roared back to tie it in the second period. A scoreless third period and first overtime led to Martinook\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n Frederik Andersen made 37 saves in the victory while Ullmark stopped 43 shots in the loss.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes became the first team in NHL history to take a 2-0 lead in their first best-of-seven series for six consecutive postseasons with the win. The series now shifts to Ottawa for Game 3 on Thursday.<\/p>\n Inside a confusing OT sequence<\/p>\n Above press row, as Jankowski appeared to score in overtime, Senators general manager Steve Staios and team owner Michael Andlauer stormed out of their visiting team suite, with Andlauer furiously pushing the door out of his way.<\/p>\n When the overtime period ended, restless Canes fans booed. But those who hadn\u2019t already left the building returned to their seats for the second overtime. So did Andlauer and Staios.<\/p>\n Down on the ice, Senators players grouped up along the bench awaiting the review. But coach Travis Green was confident it would be overturned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a weird play,\u201d Green said. \u201cDon\u2019t see it a lot in overtime. We knew right away when the puck went in the zone, it looked like it was offside. So, you could see from our bench we weren\u2019t going anywhere. Felt like it was offside.\u201d<\/p>\n The game was already emotional enough for Martinook, who likened the back-and-forth to a teeter-totter.<\/p>\n \u201cTry having a penalty shot after all that,\u201d Martinook said.<\/p>\n Martinook skated towards Ullmark, keeping himself within the red dots and faceoff margins before snapping a shot. The puck hit Ullmark\u2019s pads before sliding into the corner behind him, to the shock of Hurricanes fans still coming down from Jankowski\u2019s overturned goal.<\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t Martinook\u2019s first time taking a penalty shot in the playoffs. Three years ago, he earned one while skating shorthanded in Game 3 of the Canes\u2019 second-round series against the Devils. Martinook faked out and beat then-New Jersey goalie Vitek Vanecek by going forehand to backhand.<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to channel my penalty shot from a couple years ago, and I definitely didn\u2019t do that,\u201d Martinook said.<\/p>\n Andersen outduels Ullmark<\/p>\n Once again, a goaltending duel took place between Ullmark and Andersen. And for the second time in this series, Andersen got the better of Ullmark, even as Ullmark did everything he could to keep his team in Game 2.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was amazing,\u201d Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said of Ullmark. \u201cHe\u2019s been amazing his last two games, and he kept us in it just to give us a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n The Senators goaltender experienced a roller-coaster 2025-26, both on and off the ice, but he played some of his best hockey in an Ottawa uniform over the final weeks of the regular season. He has continued that trend for much of the first two games of this playoff series.<\/p>\n Ullmark made several incredible saves to start Game 2, at one point diving onto the ice to keep the puck from crawling past him after gloving it down. He then got the better of Taylor Hall with a stretch glove save after Hall received a cross-ice pass. Later, in the second period, Ullmark made another flashy glove save to deny Seth Jarvis on a shorthanded, two-on-one breakaway.<\/p>\n LINUS ULLMARK MAKES THE SAVE OF THE PLAYOFFS \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com\/SDXXrmyXFS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) April 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n In the dying seconds of regulation, Ullmark made a crucial save on Jordan Staal in close, redirecting a shot off his shoulder and over the crossbar. He relied on his glove again to deny Martinook\u2019s penalty shot<\/a>, and kicked away Hall\u2019s slot chance midway through double overtime.<\/p>\n \u201cBut did you see our guy?\u201d Martinook said.<\/p>\n Andersen faced 39 shots in the Canes win, coming up huge through double overtime. Tkachuk had perhaps the best of the six shots in the first overtime, receiving a tight pass from Drake Batherson only for Andersen to be up to the task. Hours earlier, in the first period, Tkachuk generated two quality chances on Andersen but the Dane stopped them both \u2014 including one with help from his left post.<\/p>\n Claude Giroux, Tim St\u00fctzle and Michael Amadio all also had close calls on Andersen, with several chances hitting the post and crossbar for the Sens in their defeat.<\/p>\n Across the series, Ullmark has stopped 70 of 75 shots. But he couldn\u2019t prevent Martinook from beating him in the second overtime. Now, despite the goalie\u2019s best efforts, the Senators head home with the series odds tilted against them.<\/p>\n By comparison, Andersen has saved 59 out of 61 shots after some wondered whether he was even the right choice to start the series for Carolina.<\/p>\n A wide-open start<\/p>\n The Senators and Canes played a tight Game 1, combining for only 51 shots on goal \u2014 including zero through the opening six-plus minutes<\/a>. It was a different story in Game 2, with the teams quickly trading odd-man rushes and quality chances. The Hurricanes ended the game with a slight edge in expected goals at five-on-five, while the Sens had an 18-17 advantage in high-danger chances at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.<\/p>\n The Senators had several prime opportunities to score in the first period, edging the Hurricanes 5-4 in high-danger chances at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. St\u00fctzle had a wide-open net after receiving a backdoor pass in close, but the puck kicked to his skate instead of his stick. Tkachuk also had a pair of prime looks near the crease, but he hit the post and Andersen\u2019s pads in succession before Fabian Zetterlund failed to score off the ensuing rebound.<\/p>\n Carolina countered with speed, pressuring the Sens on odd-man rushes; Jarvis had one of the Canes\u2019 best early chances, only to be stymied by Ullmark\u2019s left-handed glove. Later, the Canes took advantage of a first-period penalty by Tkachuk, and a roughing call against Aho, as Stankoven scored untouched from the bumper spot for his second goal and third point of the series. In the second period, as a Senators power play expired, Aho converted on a two-on-one with Staal to put Carolina ahead 2-0.<\/p>\n The Sens pressed offensively by reuniting Tkachuk, St\u00fctzle and Batherson on their top line. In fact, the Senators out shot the Hurricanes in the third period and both overtimes. But they failed to score when it mattered most.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a few looks,\u201d Batherson said. \u201cObviously, in overtime there we had a few good chances that almost went in. We played together before, and they\u2019re two fun guys to play with, and we were close on a couple.\u201d<\/p>\n Defensive hockey should continue to be a central theme in this series. But both teams took advantage of the open space allotted, after a series-opening game that offered so little.<\/p>\n Sanderson shoulders heavy load<\/p>\n The Senators were without defenseman Artem Zub on Monday night after he left partway through Game 1 due to an undisclosed injury. His value to Ottawa had been essential, as he played top-pairing minutes with Jake Sanderson and could be counted on to kill penalties. The Senators certainly could\u2019ve used him on Carolina\u2019s opening goal when Stankoven strolled into the bumper spot without resistance before beating Ullmark.<\/p>\n Sanderson was paired with Nikolas Matinpalo, while another Finn, Lassi Thomson, made his Stanley Cup playoff debut alongside Dennis Gilbert on Ottawa\u2019s third pair. Naturally, it was the Olympic gold medalist Sanderson<\/a> who led the way. Midway through the second period, he saved the puck from exiting Carolina\u2019s zone by catching it in mid-air and then passed to Batherson, who scored his team\u2019s first goal of the series.<\/p>\n The Senators eventually tied the game thanks to another well-timed takeaway from Sanderson, as he intercepted a Hurricanes pass in the neutral zone and sprung Ridly Greig with a pass at the offensive blue line. Greig then slipped the puck to Cozens, who scored a weak one past Andersen \u2014 the first time the Danish goaltender has looked human all series long.<\/p>\n In the end, Sanderson played more than 43 minutes on Monday, leading all skaters in ice time for the second consecutive game.<\/p>\n