The math is very simple for the Ottawa Senators as they prepare to host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Thursday night.
Ottawa trails the series 2-0, and only four times in NHL history has a team come back from down 3-0 to win a playoff series. The last occurred in 2014 when the Los Angeles Kings rallied to stun the San Jose Sharks.
The Senators fell behind the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 in the first round last April before falling in six games.
“We feel a lot better than being down 2-0 last year,” Ottawa forward Drake Batherson said on Wednesday. “We’ve got a lot of confidence. We’re excited to get in front of our fans. We all can’t wait.”
The Senators have certainly generated chances on offense, putting 61 shots on Frederik Andersen in the first two games, but only two of those have found the back of the net. Dylan Cozens tied Game 2 late in the second period, and no one scored again until Carolina’s Jordan Martinook ended the 3-2 thriller at 13:53 of the second overtime.
Linus Ullmark was stellar in defeat, making 46 saves after stopping 27 of 29 shots in Game 1.
“We’ve got a couple of days to regroup, not just physically, but mentally, as well,” Senators coach Travis Green said, referring to the aftermath of the Monday marathon. “After losing a game like that, I think that’s going to be important. And I think we played better the second game than the first game, and we’ve got to play better again.”
Ottawa would benefit from the return of defensemen Tyler Kleven and Artem Zub. Kleven, who took a puck to the face on April 2, practiced in a regular jersey on Wednesday. Zub, who scored a career-high 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) this season, sustained an undisclosed injury in Game 1. He did not play in Game 2 and did not practice on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are the first team in NHL history to take a 2-0 lead in its first best-of-seven series in six straight postseasons.
“We did our job,” Martinook said. “Every home team you want to hold court in your building. We won our two at home, and now we go up there, and they’re going to try and do the same. So, it’s on us to go in there and put our best game forward and get the next one.”
Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven has carried his hot streak into the playoffs. He ended the regular season on a career-best eight-game point streak, then had a goal and an assist in Game 1 and a goal in Game 2.
The line of Taylor Hall, Stankoven and Jackson Blake has nine of Carolina’s 14 points, so Carolina will be looking to spread out the scoring in Game 3.
Another area needing improvement for the Hurricanes is faceoffs. The Hurricanes won just 36.3% (29-for-80) of the faceoffs in Game 2 after taking 43.6% (24-for-55) in Game 1.
“I can’t tell you, but we have to do better,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said when asked what has gone wrong. “There’s understanding how refs are dropping pucks. There’s a million things that go into it. We have to be better.”
