Hurricanes Seize 2-0 Series Lead as Martinook Silences Ottawa in Double Overtime

The Ottawa Senators are in trouble. Jordan Martinook's goal at 13:53 of the second overtime lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 win on Monday night, giving Carolina a commanding 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series. The loss drops the Senators into the kind of deficit that ends most NHL playoff runs, and shifts the pressure squarely onto a team trying to capture its first playoff series win in nearly two decades.

The game at Lenovo Center in Raleigh lasted nearly four full periods of hockey. Ottawa twice held leads in regulation, scored a tying goal with less than five minutes to play in the third, and seemed poised to steal a road win against the Metropolitan Division champions. The Hurricanes, who had opened the series with a confident win on Saturday, instead clawed their way back one more time.

Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark was outstanding, making more than 40 saves before Martinook's winner finally beat him on the short side. Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov was equally sharp. For the Senators, the two overtime losses leave an obvious question: how much did this team leave in Raleigh, and how much is there still to give?

How the game unfolded

The Senators opened the scoring midway through the first period and took a 2-1 lead late in the second. Carolina tied it early in the third, and then both teams settled into a physical, defensively tight pattern that carried the game deep into extra time. Both rosters logged heavy minutes on their top defensive pairings, and short shifts became the rule as fatigue set in.

In the first overtime, Ottawa had several chances to end the game, including a power play that generated pressure without a finishing touch. Carolina controlled more of the second overtime's early minutes. The decisive play began along the end boards, when Martinook chased down a loose rebound and kept possession in the offensive zone. Moments later, Nikolaj Ehlers fed Martinook between the circles, and the veteran winger beat Ullmark to the short side with six minutes and seven seconds remaining in the period.

Martinook's goal sent the home crowd into a celebration that matched the relief of a team that had fallen behind early in both games. He was a fourth-line regular during Carolina's run to the conference finals last spring and has quietly built a reputation for scoring big goals at critical moments.

What went right for Ottawa

The Senators were not dominated. They skated with the Hurricanes, played disciplined defence and got another elite performance from Ullmark. Captain Brady Tkachuk led the team's physical game, and the Senators forechecked effectively through long stretches of the first three periods.

Ottawa's special teams, which had been a liability during the regular season, held up well against one of the league's better power plays. The penalty kill denied Carolina on multiple opportunities in tight-game situations. Those structural improvements are not trivial, even in a losing effort.

Senators head coach Travis Green's system has kept shot volumes down against a Carolina team that led the league in shot attempts during the regular season. The challenge has not been limiting chances. It has been finding enough offence against the Hurricanes' strong defensive structure and the goaltending of Kochetkov.

What went wrong for Ottawa

Five-on-five scoring beyond the top line has been thin, and Ottawa's forward depth has not generated enough offence to relieve pressure on the core group. The Senators also turned the puck over at key moments, including the sequence that led to the game-winning goal.

Faceoff numbers tilted in Carolina's favour, particularly in the overtime periods, which limited Ottawa's ability to establish zone time when it was needed most. Veteran Chris Tierney and Shane Pinto each won only about 40 per cent of their draws, a meaningful deficit in a game that was decided on small moments.

Ottawa also surrendered a late tying goal in Game 1 before losing in overtime, and the inability to close games remains the most worrying theme of the series. Until the Senators can hold a third-period lead, the series math favours Carolina.

The series at home

Game 3 shifts to Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, with the Senators returning home for their first playoff crowd since 2017. The support inside the arena will be loud, and Ottawa's road record during the regular season was always weaker than its home record. Home ice has been a significant psychological and tactical advantage throughout Senators history.

Tkachuk and his teammates have spoken about wanting to reward a fan base that has waited years for playoff hockey. The Senators have not won a playoff round since their 2017 run to the conference finals, and several core players have never tasted a playoff series victory.

If the Senators can take Game 3 at home, the series becomes a real best-of-five. If they lose, they face the rare but documented challenge of coming back from 3-0 down. Only four NHL teams in history have rallied from that deficit.

Injuries and special teams adjustments

Both teams have emerged from the opening two games without significant new injuries, a notable development for a series that has featured nearly four periods of hockey in Game 2 alone. Senators blueliner Thomas Chabot continues to log heavy minutes, and his defensive partner Jake Sanderson has also been a workhorse through the early games.

Carolina's defence has distributed minutes more evenly, with Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns anchoring the top pair. The Hurricanes' ability to rotate fresh defenders through long shifts has been a structural edge in both games. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour has highlighted that depth as a strength of the current Hurricanes roster.

On special teams, both coaching staffs will be revisiting tape before Game 3. Power-play unit composition and entry patterns will be under review, as will penalty-kill assignments against the respective opposition strengths.

Canadian teams in the first round

Ottawa is one of three Canadian teams in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, alongside the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens. The Oilers won Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks and hosted Game 2 on Wednesday at Rogers Place. The Canadiens are in a tight series with the Tampa Bay Lightning after dropping Game 2 in overtime.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets all missed the playoffs this year, a rare outcome for Canadian hockey fans. That makes the three remaining Canadian teams a focal point of national attention, and Ottawa's performance is being followed closely on social media and on hockey broadcasts.

The NHL's Canadian television audience has been strong through the early rounds, aided by simultaneous Canadiens and Senators games on Monday night. The excitement around meaningful Canadian playoff hockey, absent for much of the season in traditional markets, has helped the league build momentum heading into Round 2.

What the coaches are saying

Senators head coach Travis Green, according to post-game remarks reported by CBC and TSN, emphasised that the team was not far from the outcome it wanted in Game 2. He credited Carolina's goaltending and persistence without conceding significant structural problems.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, a demanding former captain, praised his team's depth and conditioning. Brind'Amour has long argued that Carolina's physical style wears opponents down in long series, and the double overtime result fits that pattern.

Martinook, speaking to reporters on the ice after the goal, deflected credit toward his linemates and the team's system. Ehlers, his primary setup man for the winner, has been a key addition to Carolina's depth chart since joining the Hurricanes in free agency.

History, and what the Sens franchise needs

The Senators have not won a playoff series since the spring of 2017, when they fell one goal short of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins in double overtime of Game 7. For a fan base that has watched roster turnover, ownership change and long rebuilds in the years since, this run represents the end of a drought as much as the start of a new competitive chapter.

Owner Michael Andlauer, who took control of the franchise in 2023, has invested aggressively in both hockey operations and community outreach. Bringing playoff hockey back to Ottawa was a stated priority, and the current series is the first visible return on that investment. A second-round appearance would validate both the hockey and business plans that underpin the franchise's revival.

For Ottawa's core of Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson and Tkachuk, this series is also a developmental milestone. Playoff experience is a notoriously hard thing to buy, and the scars of two overtime losses in Raleigh, if they lead to a turnaround at home, become the kind of lessons that carry a young team deeper into future post-seasons.

What's next

Game 3 at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday evening is effectively a must-win for the Senators. A loss would put Ottawa on the brink of elimination. A win would reset the series and give the Senators momentum heading into Game 4 on Saturday, also in Ottawa.

Game 5 is scheduled for Raleigh early next week. Game 6, if necessary, would return to Ottawa. A Game 7 would be held in Raleigh as the higher-seeded home team. The format, intense as it is, still leaves room for the Senators to rewrite the narrative.

Television viewership in Ontario and Quebec for the series has been strong, and CBC and TSN broadcasts have leaned into the Canadian storylines around both Ottawa and Montreal. The schedule produces at least one Canadian team game every night of the week, which is the kind of rotating coverage Canadian broadcasters have been hoping for during a regular season in which most of the country's teams missed the playoffs.

For Canadian hockey fans, Thursday night is the first chance in a generation to fill Canadian Tire Centre with a Stanley Cup playoff atmosphere that actually matters beyond the preseason. The Senators need their home crowd as much as the building needs another reason to roar. Both have been waiting a long time.