Getting swept in the first round is never an easy pill to swallow. But for the Ottawa Senators, they can probably look at their first-round sweep with a bit less frustration after the Carolina Hurricanes went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Ottawa went down in four straight games to the Hurricanes to open the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs in what they felt was a massive underdog series. At times, they looked like they were one bounce away from winning games. However, now when you look back, you have to give credit to the Hurricanes, who dominated the entire playoffs.
Senators sweep doesn't feel so bad now
That early exit looks a little different now that Carolina has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, beating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. Losing to the eventual champions always softens the edges of a playoff loss, even if it doesn’t make it feel much better in the moment.
Game 1 set the tone in a way that almost felt scripted. Three seconds in, Brady Tkachuk and Jordan Staal dropped the gloves off the opening faceoff. No buildup, no feeling-out process, just straight into it. It was two captains basically deciding the temperature of the series right away.
From there, it turned into more of a grind. Ottawa had moments, especially in that Game 2 double-overtime loss that probably still sticks with them, but Carolina’s depth and structure slowly took over as the series went on.
And that’s really what Carolina showed the rest of the way too. They just kept coming. Four lines, steady forecheck, no real soft spots. The kind of team that doesn’t give you much room to breathe, let alone recover from mistakes.
For a young Ottawa group led by Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, there’s probably something useful in that, even if it’s not fun at the time. These are the kinds of series where you start to understand what playoff hockey actually looks like and what a Stanley Cup-winning team plays like. Carolina going all the way through the Final just reinforces that. They weren’t just a tough matchup; they are the Cup champions.
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