nhl today turned into a season-ending gut punch for the Ottawa Senators on Saturday at Canadian Tire Centre, where the Carolina Hurricanes completed a four-game sweep with a 4-2 win in Game 4. Captain Brady Tkachuk called it “heartbreaking” as Ottawa’s 2025 playoff run ended with lingering questions about injuries, special teams, and what comes next. The Senators showed fight, but nhl today finished with no more hockey for this group.
Ottawa’s season ends in a sweep
The Senators never led in any game of the series, even though the margin stayed tight for long stretches. Game 2 went to second overtime before Ottawa lost 3-2, Game 3 was decided by one goal, and Game 4 was still in reach until the Hurricanes pulled away late.
Brady Tkachuk said the room was shaken after the final buzzer, calling it a “really tight series” and saying every player “gave everything they had to try to extend the series. ” Drake Batherson added that it was “a lot closer than how it ended, ” while head coach Travis Green said Ottawa “played a lot better than last year” even while losing four straight. The cumulative score, not counting two empty-net goals in Game 4, was 9-5.
Injuries shaped the series, but not all of it
Ottawa’s defense took a heavy hit throughout the series. Jake Sanderson was injured in Game 3, Artem Zub was out after Game 1, Thomas Chabot played while a fractured arm was still healing, and Tyler Kleven returned for the final two games with a protective bubble for a fractured jaw. Green said the team played 10 defensemen in the first four games, a situation he said he had rarely heard of.
That shortage made the matchup harder against a Hurricanes team that finished first in the Eastern Conference. Green said Ottawa was forced to lean on a patchwork blue line while Carolina missed only Nikolaj Ehlers, and only for Game 4. Still, the Senators were in position to make it interesting, even if the night ended with disappointment.
Special teams became the difference
One of the biggest frustrations was the power play. Batherson’s second-period goal was Ottawa’s only one on 21 power-play chances in the series, including four 5-on-3 opportunities in the two home games. Green said the Senators never adjusted to Carolina’s aggressive penalty kill, and Tkachuk said the power play hurt them in Game 3 and again in Game 4.
Ottawa had two five-on-threes in Game 4 and did not score on either. The Senators finished 1-for-21 on the power play in the series, a number that stands out next to how close the games were on the scoreboard.
Immediate reactions inside the room
Tkachuk, near tears after the loss, said he “didn’t want it to be over. ” Green said the Senators “showed a lot of fight” and “didn’t go away quietly, ” while Chabot pointed to the rebound sequence on Logan Stankoven’s third-period goal as one of the small bounces that can decide playoff hockey. He called it “a game of inches out there. ”
What comes next for nhl today
For nhl today, the next phase is an offseason full of questions rather than answers. The character shown through injuries cannot be dismissed, but the sweep leaves uncertainty around health, execution, and how Ottawa builds after a series that stayed close without ever turning in its favor. nhl today now shifts from the rink to the decisions that will define the Senators’ next step.
