Playoff Primer: Full Hurricanes-Senators Round One Schedule, How to Watch, and Matchup Breakdown
James Guillory-Imagn Images The schedule for the Carolina Hurricanes’ round one playoff games against the Ottawa Senators has been set, and the excitement is high coming off the heels of one of the Hurricanes’ best seasons on record. How do the Hurricanes and Senators Playing Styles Matchup Interestingly, the Hurricanes and Senators both utilize a very similar playing style. Prioritizing an offensive-heavy approach, they both focus on outworking their opponent in all three zones – but especially the offensive zone.
Both teams are in the top 10 leaguewide for most shots on goal (Hurricanes 2nd, Senators 9th), and in the top three for fewest shots against (Hurricanes 1st, Senators 3rd). With that being said, the Hurricanes lead the Senators in most general statistics and analytics, with the exception of shooting percentage (as expected due to the Hurricanes’ higher volume of shots on goal), and allowing more high-danger chances against. Hurricanes Goaltending vs.
Senators Goaltending In goaltending, the Hurricanes and Senators have both done well as of late. For Ottawa, Linus Ullmark has notably improved since his leave of absence in late December. Before it, he was 14-9-5, with just a .
881 save percentage. Since returning, he has notched a 14-4-3 record and a . 904 save percentage.
Additionally, James Reimer has proven to be a solid backup since his signing during Ullmark’s absence, helping to gain 16 valuable points in the standings in 13 games played throughout the season. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have relied on the consistency of first-year NHLer, Brandon Bussi, to push them through injuries and slumps, where he earned a 31-6-2 record – tying for fourth most goalie wins leaguewide this season. After the Olympic break, he had a bit of a cold streak compared to what he had been producing, but even still, he went 8-3-1 in those games.
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