2024-25 Regular Season, Game 82 Preview: Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators

The Carolina Hurricanes lost the first half of their season-ending back-to-back on Wednesday night, falling 4-2 to the Montreal Canadiens. Kaiden Guhle opened the scoring less than four minutes in, getting his shot through a screened Pyotr Kochetkov to get the Canadiens off to a quick start. Taylor Hall knotted the game midway through the period, sending a spinning chance past Samuel Montemeault. The deadlock remained until late in the second period, when Montreal finally pulled ahead for good. Nick Suzuki snapped a shot without a soul around him under Kochetkov's blocker to restore Montreal's lead. Two minutes later, Guhle scored again, doubling Montreal's lead right before the break. Tyson Jost shrank the deficit late in the third, popping home a loose puck after Bradly Nadeau's redirection got lost behind Montembeault, but Jake Evans' empty-net goal sealed the victory. With their win, Montreal claimed the final Wild Card spot, making every game tonight completely meaningless.

The Opponent: Ottawa Senators (44-30-7, 95 Points- 4th in the Atlantic Division/WC1)
Last Meeting: The Senators made their second trip to Raleigh in mid-December, returning the favor to the Canes after being shut out in the first meeting. Shane Pinto broke a scoreless tie early in the second period, and the 1-0 lead stood until late in the third. Despite a vigorous push by the Canes, Nick Jensen found some daylight against Pyotr Kochetkov, extending the lead with 5:15 left. Pinto scored his second of the game into the empty net to put the Canes away for good. Linus Ullmark made 32 stops to shut out the Canes in a 3-0 road victory for the Senators.

Since We Last Met: The Senators are locked into the first Wild Card spot and will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Battle of Ontario when the playoffs begin this weekend. Ottawa has been streaky at times this season, but they've been rolling since the beginning of March (15-5-3). They've won five of their last seven (5-1-1), with a power play that can't be stopped (17-for-71 since March 1). Ottawa has already started resting some of its starters, with Claude Giroux, Nick Jensen, and Jake Sanderson among the players who sat for their 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago on Tuesday. Brady Tkachuk has also been out of the lineup since the end of March. Travis Green could try and get him some time before the playoffs, or he'll decide to hold off and let him run wild for Game 1 against the Leafs. Tkachuk will likely end the season as Ottawa's leading goal scorer, and Tim Stutzle will reign as the top point-getter. Game 1 starter Linus Ullmark didn't start in Chicago, but I don't see any reason for him to start tonight either. 

Stories of the Game
1. You All Have 1 Job: DON'T! GET! HURT!!!!!
This goes for both teams since both will begin their quest for the Stanley Cup this weekend. Many of Carolina's starters took Wednesday night off, as did some of Ottawa's on Tuesday, and I expect the same on Thursday. Last season was a cautionary tale. In their season finale in Columbus, Jesper Fast got hurt, and it cost him his entire 2024-25 campaign. The game meant nothing for either Carolina or Columbus, much like tonight's game is meaningless for both sides. Just get through the 60 minutes without anything crazy happening and move on to Game 1 in your respective series this weekend. 

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