Senators respond to coach's challenge with huge win over Hurricanes

Ottawa Senators' Tim Stützle (18) falls to the ice as he tries to play the puck in front of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during third period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Sunday, April 5, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Travis Green challenged his players to step up and he got the desired response.

After falling 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild Saturday afternoon, the Ottawa Senators head coach was less than pleased with the effort from some of his players.

Sunday, his entire team responded and was rewarded with a 6-3 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

Ottawa (40-27-10) is in a battle with the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals for the final wild-card berth the Eastern Conference. Sunday’s victory allowed them to remain in the final spot but with just five games remaining Ottawa will need to find a way to match that effort and desperation down the stretch.

“I thought everyone responded with a better game,” said Green. “Especially the guys that I didn’t think played that well (Saturday). Just played a little harder, played a little quicker, went to harder places.”

While he didn’t name him specifically there’s no denying the Senators needed more from leading scorer Tim Stutzle.

Coming into the game Stutzle had one goal in his last eight outings.

Stutzle left no doubt of his offensive abilities with an incredible solo effort midway through the first period to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead.

Coming off the bench, Stutzle intercepted an Eric Robinson pass, cut through the middle and beat K’Andre Miller, then Sean Walker before putting on the breaks in front to pull Frederik Andersen to the corner and go backhand into a wide-open net.

“It was a superstar moment,” said Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “Just made a great play under the stick, had so much speed so quickly that I couldn’t believe that and then made an unbelievable move. It was a huge goal for our group.”

For Ottawa to have any success they will need Stutzle to be at his best.

Tkachuk spoke of the lessons learned from the loss to Minnesota and importance of responding with a better effort.

“They won the battles, and they’re hard to play against and give us space and we wanted to do that against a team that’s notorious for doing that,” said Tkachuk. “I guess they’re a role model in the way that games should be played.”

Tkachuk added they’ve taken inspiration from those types of teams and want to replicate the style seeing as it often leads to success.

“That’s a playoff team,” said Carolina’s Taylor Hall. “I don’t know if they’re going to make the playoffs, but that’s a team that plays playoff hockey.”

The Senators’ power play also found some much-needed life. Ottawa was 1-for-13 with the man advantage coming into the game and finally found a way to capitalize scoring on both its opportunities Sunday.

There’s likely a strong correlation to the fact Jake Sanderson is back in the lineup. Sanderson quarterbacks the first power-play unit and in his absence it struggled.

Much had been made about Linus Ullmark needing a rest just over a week ago but he played both weekend games and was solid in both starts.

If Ullmark continues his style of play and the Senators can find a way to get Stutzle scoring and ignite their power play they stand a good chance.

Ottawa’s final five games won’t be easy. They host the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday, Florida Panthers Thursday before heading out on the road where they’ll take on the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils in a back-to-back before closing out the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2026.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press