Stankoven pots opener for third straight game as Carolina takes 3-0 series lead
OTTAWA — Logan Stankoven continued his scorching start to the postseason, scoring the opening goal for the third consecutive game as the Carolina Hurricanes pushed the Ottawa Senators to the brink with a 2-1 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Stankoven, Hall, Andersen help Carolina Hurricanes top the Ottawa Senators 2-0 to open NHL playoffs | State-national | reflector.com
Jackson Blake also found the net for the top-seeded Hurricanes from the Metropolitan Division, while Frederik Andersen turned aside 21 shots to secure the victory. Carolina now sits one win away from sweeping the best-of-7 series, with Game 4 set for Saturday in Ottawa (3 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TBS, truTV, FDSNSO, HBO MAX).
“Bit of a weird game with so many power plays and not a lot of momentum for either side,” Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. “But those are the tight games you have to win if you want to take the series. We’re feeling good, but we know the fourth win is always the hardest.”
Stankoven opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first period, one-timing a feed from Hall bar-down past Linus Ullmark for his third straight game-opening goal. “It’s a good feeling to start the game like that and take some pressure off,” Stankoven said. “They were going to come out flying, so it was nice to settle things down early.”
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Drake Batherson tied it 1-1 midway through the second period with a nice forehand-to-backhand move after a feed from Nick Cousins. But Blake answered quickly just over a minute later, wiring a wrist shot past a sprawling Ullmark off a clever cross-ice setup from Hall and K’Andre Miller to restore Carolina’s lead.
Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson, their top defenseman, left the game in the second period after taking a hit to the head from Hall. Senators coach Travis Green confirmed the injury was from the check, and the team will be monitoring his status closely.
The Senators went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a lengthy 5-on-3, managing just four shots with the man advantage. “Power play lost us the game,” Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. “It was frustrating, but we’ve got to find a way. We’ve never quit all season.”
Carolina’s penalty kill stood firm, and the Hurricanes went 0-for-4 on their own power plays. “Both penalty kills were strong and kind of canceled each other out,” coach Rod Brind’Amour noted. “The 5-on-3 was a big turning point.”
NOTES: Stankoven’s streak of opening goals is one short of the NHL record. He became just the second player in league history to score the game’s first goal in each of his team’s first three postseason contests, joining George Armstrong of the 1956 Toronto Maple Leafs.