The Ottawa Senators came into Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes, desperately needing a win to avoid being swept.
After losing Game 3, 2-1, the Senators were left without Jake Sanderson, who was injured after taking a high hit from Taylor Hall. Unfortunately, he is a tough player to replace on the blue line, especially when you are already without Artem Zub.
That was the narrative coming into Game 4, and sadly for the organization and fanbase, they couldn't get things going. Although they put up a ton of fight, they weren't able to take advantage of their chances and fell 4-2 and were eliminated by the Hurricanes.
Despite being eliminated by the Hurricanes, this game had everything that you'd want as a hockey fan. After a huge hit by Tyler Kleven that knocked out Alexander Nikishin, chaos erupted, and there was a full brawl on the ice.
CHAOS IN OTTAWA 🫨 pic.twitter.com/f8DxsTCsg9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 25, 2026
The chaos started after Nic Deslauriers went right over to Kleven on the bench, and within seconds everyone on the ice was involved. That seemed to be the turning point; the Hurricanes did take some penalties, but they appeared to use the Senators' emotions against them.
For the Senators, this is the second straight season that they were eliminated in the first round. However, this season they were also swept, and their star players, aside from Drake Batherson, were nowhere to be found. This has caught a lot of attention on social media amongst the fan base who aren't happy with how things had gone.
From the first puck drop in Game 1, something felt off with the Senators. Brady Tkachuk fought Jordan Staal off that same opening faceoff, seeming to be searching for a viral social media moment rather than being the captain. If this is his last game for the club, he is going to be public enemy number one in Ottawa for years to come for his lack of effort.
The lone bright side from this series was how good Linus Ullmark played. Sadly, the Senators wasted a truly great performance. in all four games. It's hard when your goalie gives you a chance to win every night but the team can't score. Even on the power play, they struggled immensely. That said, credit has to go to Frederik Andersen, who was lights out this series and shut down any Grade A scoring chance.
It was a short-lived series for the Senators, who never lead in the four games. Now their attention turns to the offseason, where they will look for answers on what exactly went wrong.
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