OTTAWA — Drake Batherson and his teammates were in the exact same spot.
Down 2-0 in a playoff series. Heading home. Crucial date on the schedule up next.
The wide-eyed Ottawa Senators dipped their toes in the playoff pool for the first time in eight seasons last April before suffering a blowout loss and an overtime setback on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a showdown that would eventually end in six games.
Fast-forward some 12 months, and the Carolina Hurricanes picked up consecutive victories in the initial acts of this spring's opening round in Raleigh, N.C. — a 2-0 victory and a hard-fought, 3-2 double OT decision.
Despite the similarities, this Senators iteration has a different vibe with Game 3 set for Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.
"We feel a lot better than being down 2-0 last year," Batherson said Wednesday following an optional practice. "We've got a lot of confidence. We're excited to get in front of our fans. We all can't wait."
Senators winger Warren Foegele, who was acquired ahead of March's trade deadline from the Los Angeles Kings and made a run to the 2024 Stanley Cup final with the Edmonton Oilers, said the internal belief has never wavered since he arrived in town.
"People were doubting us to even make the playoffs," he said. "This group's hungry and this group's confident. We have a wonderful opportunity."
Ottawa head coach Travis Green said he expects the home rink will give his group a boost after the crowd at Lenovo Center did its part in Carolina for the Eastern Conference's top seed.
"I don't worry about us getting too amped up," said the former NHL centre. "You wanna have energy in your game. This is an energy-type series. There's not a lot of space. There's a lot of sprinting going on between both teams for a whole shift.
"Your home crowd, when you hear it, it does give you a jolt. But you gotta go out and play."
What remains to be seen is what options Green has to play on defence.
Bruising blueliner Tyler Kleven took the ice in a regular jersey for the second straight session with extra protection for his jaw after taking a puck to the face April 2, but top-pair option Artem Zub didn't emerge from the tunnel.
The Russian hasn't skated since delivering a big hit on Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis in the opening period of Game 1.
Kleven, who wasn't made available to reporters despite being a full participant in practice, is "getting closer" to a return, Green added, while Zub hasn't been ruled out of the series.
Down three of the team's regular six defencemen, Jake Sanderson played 43 minutes six seconds in Game 2. Thomas Chabot (40:50) and Jordan Spence (39:01) also endured heavy workloads.
"Those guys can skate all day," Batherson said of Sanderson and Chabot. "They never get too tired, and they've got no problem logging 28 (minutes) on a regular night … they'll be back flying."
Green, meanwhile, has no issue running his workhorses out again in a similar fashion, if necessary. Apart from Zub and Kleven, Ottawa is also minus Nick Jensen long-term with a knee injury.
That's forced the likes of Nikolas Matinpalo, Dennis Gilbert and Lassi Thomson into elevated roles at the most important time of the year for a club that, at one point earlier in the schedule, had to dig 12 defenders deep into its system to fill out a lineup card.
"We're gonna do whatever it takes to win," Green said. "Those guys are capable of playing (that) many minutes."
Even just getting Kleven back against a grinding Hurricanes roster would be a massive boost.
"His game is built for playoffs," Batherson said. "Everyone saw what he could do last year."
The Senators weren't shy to hide their disappointment after a chaotic Game 2 that saw them hit numerous posts, miss a boatload of other chances, and survive both a goal called back for offside and a penalty shot in OT.
"The longer you play in the playoffs — the deeper you go — you're going to lose some big games," Green said. "How you manage your emotions is important. I think it was advantageous for us to have a couple days (off), just with the length of that game and the emotional effect that it had. But that's just part of playoff hockey."
Being counted out is also familiar territory.
"It feels like since Christmas that every time we lost a game, there seemed to be a bunch of people talking about (how) that was the one that was going to end our season," said Green, whose team finished the schedule 8-1-1 over its last 10 at home. "You're going to lose games in the playoffs. Probably going to eventually lose another one.
"You gotta move on."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2026.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
