The Ottawa Senators have the inside track on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference this season. Unlike last season, the Senators will face the top seed in the East. That top seed figures to be the Carolina Hurricanes with four games to play in the regular season. But that's not something likely to scare the Sens.
The Hurricanes have a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens, who all sit with 102 points. Unless one of those teams can overtake the Hurricanes, Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs will be in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It won’t be an easy road for the Senators by any means. But as the club proved last season, it can be a tough out.
Sure, the Toronto Maple Leafs bounced the Senators in six last spring. But that series wasn’t quite as lopsided as some might believe. Except for Game 1 against the Leafs, which ended 6-2, every game was close. Games 2, 3, and 4 went to overtime. And judging from those games, any one of them could have swung in the Senators’ favor.
By the end of Game 3, the series could have easily been 2-1 in favor of Ottawa instead of a 3-0 lead for the Maple Leafs. The Sens came back to make it a series with two-straight wins.
Unfortunately, the Senators ran out of gas in Game 6.
The team hopes that won’t be the case this time around. As bitter as that experience was against Toronto, it was a crucial one in helping the Senators build the character needed to make a strong run in 2026.
Senators hung tough against Hurricanes in season series
The Senators hung tough against the Hurricanes in their season series this year. While the Canes took two of three games from the Sens, none of the losses were a blowout.
The Hurricanes took the first meeting 4-1 on January 24. The Canes opened up a 3-0 lead in the first period, then added another to make it 4-0 midway through the second. Tim Stutzle scored to get the Senators on the board.
The two clubs met again on February 3. Unlike the first meeting, the Senators tied the game at three early in the third period. Unfortunately, a late goal by Jordan Staal ended the night for the Sens.
The script was completely different a few days ago. The Senators scored six to down the Canes 6-3 at home. The Senators had the decided edge in the matchup, nabbing two crucial points.
Now, it’s easy to say that the Hurricanes won the season series. So, that would be an indication of the Hurricanes walking over the Senators.
But let’s take the recency bias for a minute. The Senators are playing some of their best hockey at this point in the season. While the Hurricanes aren’t exactly reeling, they haven’t been as dominant as other points in the season.
By that logic, could the Senators pull off this postseason’s biggest upset?
There’s plenty of reason to believe that could be the case. And if there’s any team that has the guts to pull off a major upset, it’s the Senators.