The Carolina Hurricanes are leading the Ottawa Senators 1-0 after two periods in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoffs series.
Logan Stankoven has the game’s lone goal in what has been a tightly-contested affair.
The Hurricanes lead shots on goal 15-9 after two frames.
Ottawa defenceman Artem Zub left the game during the second period with an apparent injury, per multiple reports.
A slashing penalty by K’Andre Miller late in the second period gave Ottawa its second power-play opportunity of the game, but once again, the Hurricanes’ defence was suffocating and the Senators could not register a shot on net.
Carolina got its first power-play opportunity on an unfortunate play by the Senators - Tim Stutzle’s shot wrapped around the boards and came all the way up towards the neutral zone, where it touched the skate of a Sens player as he went over the boards.
Senators head coach Travis Green was furious that the play was whistled for too many men, but the Hurricanes went on the player play nonetheless.
Things went from bad to worse for Ottawa just over a minute later - with Zub in the penalty box already, Jake Sanderson was whistled for tripping, sending Carolina to a 5-on-3 advantage with two of Ottawa’s top defencemen in the penalty box.
Ottawa was able to kill off both penalties to keep the deficit at one as time ticked down in the second period.
After a slow first period, the Hurricanes struck first quickly in the second, with Stankoven beating Linus Ullmark from the slot to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
Things got off to a hot start in the first period when Brady Tkachuk dropped the gloves off the opening face-off and started a fight with Jordan Staal, with the two opposing captains duking it out to try to set the tone.
The Senators did not have defenceman Tyler Kleven for this game, though Green told reporters earlier in the day that he believes Kleve may be ready to return to action at some point in this series.
Ottawa is seeking its first playoff series victory since the 2017 playoffs, when the team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games.
