A playoff game exactly as you picture it: long, tense, suffocating
There are nights when a series shifts. On Monday in Raleigh, it wasnt just the series that moved on, it was the whole mood swinging Carolina’s way. The Hurricanes beat the Senators 3-2 in double overtime, after a game that had everything: huge goaltending, a disallowed goal, a missed penalty shot, a building buzzing with tension and, finally, Jordan Martinook playing the late hero. With the win, the Canes head to Ottawa with a 2-0 lead and the feeling theyve already landed a serious blow.
Carolina had the game exactly where it wanted it
For long stretches, the Hurricanes looked like they were in full control. Logan Stankoven opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, cashing in after good work behind the net and beating Ullmark five-hole. Sebastian Aho then doubled the lead early in the second after a slick transition finished off with Jordan Staal. At 2-0, Raleigh was already roaring, and Carolina seemed to have the whole thing in a stranglehold.
What stood out most wasnt just the lead. It was the control. The Canes played like a team that knew its systems, knew its spacing and knew its pace. Even when Ottawa tried to slow things down or break the rhythm, Carolina still looked like the cleaner, sharper side, dangerous on the forecheck and tidy coming out of its own end. In Game 2 at home, after taking the opener too, that sort of control can start to wear an opponent down fast.
Ottawa deserves credit for not folding
But the Senators showed some backbone. And that may be the biggest takeaway for them from the loss. They never left the game. Drake Batherson pulled them back into it after a scramble triggered by Jake Sanderson at the blue line. The puck bounced around, came back to his stick, and Batherson finished the job. A few minutes later, Dylan Cozens tied it with a wrist shot that slipped through Andersen’s pads.
In a matter of minutes, Ottawa had wiped the slate clean. And it was no fluke. The Senators had started to get more puck possession, drive the play harder and force Carolina to defend instead of dictate. Coming back from 2-0 in a playoff game on the road, in that kind of atmosphere, is never a small thing. Ottawa showed it wasnt just there to make up the numbers.
Then the goalies took over
From there, the game became something else. Every touch mattered. Every shot felt like it could end the night. And the goaltenders turned into the real centrepieces. Ullmark was immense. His save with 22 seconds left in regulation on a Jordan Staal rebound kept Ottawa alive. Without him, there wouldnt have been any overtime at all.
Frederik Andersen answered in kind. Maybe even more so as the overtime wore on. His stop on Michael Amadio in double overtime, with the puck glancing off the bar, kept Carolina in it when the game could have gone either way. Both netminders carried their teams with remarkable calm, to the point where some shifts felt like private duels.
In games like this, the numbers tell part of the story. Forty-three saves for Ullmark. Thirty-six for Andersen. But the real headline is simpler: both goalies held the line when the series started to spill over.
Martinook lived through everything, then fixed it
Jordan Martinook’s night summed up the madness. First, he thought he had won it in the first overtime when Jankowski appeared to have handed Carolina the victory. Video review wiped it out for offside. Then he got a penalty shot. Again, he had the game on his stick. Again, Ullmark shut the door. In plenty of games, that kind of sequence lingers and drags you under.
Not this time.
At 15:53 of the second overtime, Martinook found space in the slot on a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers, received the puck and lifted it into the roof of the net. Game over. End of the pain. End of the suspense. The guy who had thought he scored, then missed his chance, finally got the last word. Playoffs can be brutal. They can also be pure theatre.
Ottawa is still alive, but Carolina has already banked something valuable
Going up 2-0 before the trip to Canada is no small thing. Not in a series that already feels built for long nights and heavy legs. Carolina has the scoreline, obviously, but it also has the emotional edge that comes from winning a game that could easily have slipped away. It survived Ottawa’s push, saw a goal called back, missed a penalty shot, and still walked out with the win.
For the Senators, the frustration will sting. But it isnt all bad. They showed they can come back, they showed they can handle the pace, and Ullmark has given them a real chance. The issue is that in the playoffs, hanging around isnt always enough. Sometimes you have to steal one. Ottawa hasnt done that yet. And back home on Thursday, there wont be any room left for mistakes.
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