Sens look forward after Game 1 loss; Zub's status unclear after exiting with injury

Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov (37) drives the puck as Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) gives chase in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

RALEIGH — Thomas Chabot felt his team handled things fairly well.

The Ottawa Senators expected an early surge from the Hurricanes to open their first-round playoff series.

And after captain Brady Tkachuk and Carolina opposite Jordan Staal dropped the gloves three seconds into proceedings at a pulsating Lenovo Center, the Eastern Conference's top seed tried to impose its physical will Saturday.

One of the Senators' key drivers from defence, Chabot was clearly targeted in a move to soften the blue-line corps.

Ottawa survived and pushed back before ultimately being undone by two strange goals — one on a fanned five-hole effort and another where the puck bounced around Linus Ullmark's crease — on the way to a 2-0 setback against the stingy Hurricanes in a contest where the home side held a 57-39 edge in hits.

"You play in Carolina, that's what they do," Chabot said Sunday. "Probably until the first TV timeout, they try to create some momentum in hitting and throwing every puck at the net. We knew that was coming."

The Senators can expect the same when the teams meet Monday for Game 2.

"They (played) hard," Ottawa centre Tim Stutzle said of Carolina's forecheck. "We gotta find a way to chip them a little better, give our (defencemen) more time without taking penalties."

Chabot, who logged close to 27 minutes after shutdown defender Artem Zub left in the first period with an undisclosed injury, said the significant uptick in physicality was expected.

"It's that time of the year," he said. "That's what makes playoff hockey so fun to be part of. It's the energy, it's the shenanigans post-whistles, it's everything that goes into it."

Zub's status remains unclear for a club that survived having to use 12 defencemen for various ailments across 82 regular-season games.

"Big loss when he goes out," said Senators head coach Travis Green, who didn't have an update on Jake Sanderson's usual partner on the back end. "Someone's gotta step up and play those minutes against top lines … I thought they did do a pretty good job."

But there's a clear trickle-down effect when a player like Zub is absent.

"His presence in our own zone, the way he wins his battles, the way he shuts the top guys down," Chabot of the Russian's attributes. "Huge piece of this team."

Apart from dealing with Carolina's pressure, Ottawa needs to do a better job of creating its own.

The Senators were held in check for 40 minutes with just nine shots before coming on in the third period, including a power-play goal from Drake Batherson that was called back on video review after Hurricanes netminder Frederik Anderson held the line with a terrific glove stop.

"This is going to be a series where I don't know if either team, every game, is going to love their game," Green said. "One team is going to love the outcome … going to be a series of singles, not a lot of home-run plays.

"I thought they played their game a little better than we played ours."

Trailing the best-of-seven series is hardly the first time the Senators have dealt with adversity in a season that included lots of injuries, outside noise and a second-half charge to make the playoffs.

"We hold each other accountable and we know there's a lot of guys in this room that want to do better and play better," Chabot said. "We're going to bring it. It's a hell of a hockey team that we play. They finished first for a reason."

Green and Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour — both former NHL centres — have similar philosophies in a matchup of teams with plenty in common despite the Hurricanes, who are competing in their ninth playoff series over the last four springs, finishing 14 points clear in the standings.

"Not gonna be lots of opportunities, not a lot of fancy plays," said Stutzle, whose group exited last year's post-season in the first round after the franchise failed to make the Stanley Cup tournament seven years running. "Gotta find a way to get more in front of their goalie and make it harder on him. Experience always helps, and they've been there a lot.

"We gotta find a way to just play our game."

Along with being ready for another early volley of shoulder pads.

"They're going to try and do the same thing," Chabot said. "And we're going to be ready for it once again."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press