The Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes could not find the opening tally after 20 minutes in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday.
Carolina finished with eight shots on net, while the Senators tallied five shots on net in the opening frame.
Fans at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh saw the best fireworks of the opening period off the opening face-off, when Brady Tkachuk and Jordan Staal dropped the gloves for a fight between captains.
Ottawa was the first team to go on the man advantage, as Jackson Blake was whistled for delay the game after lifting the puck over the glass at the 13:34 mark.
The Senators could not muster a shot on net on the game’s first power play.
Offence was hard to come by in the early going, as the team combined for just one shot on goal in the first nine minutes of the frame.
The Hurricanes didn’t record their first shot on net until there were seven minutes left in the opening period.
The Senators do not have defenceman Tyler Kleven for this game, though head coach Travis Green told reporters earlier in the day that he believes Kleven 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.
