Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators Game 3 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
For the first time in franchise history, the Senators welcome the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Thursday night. Ottawa is down 2-0 but a -125 favourite on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5 goals.
Hurricanes vs. Senators NHL Betting Odds
The last time we saw Ottawa take the ice at Canadian Tire Centre for a playoff game was May 1, 2025, when the Senators lost 4-2 to Toronto and were eliminated in Game 6 of their first-round Eastern Conference series. Ottawa was a terrific 23-12-6 on home ice this regular season, but Carolina was a stellar 24-12-5 away.
Entering Game 2, the Hurricanes were -315 on the series line and Senators +250. With that 3-2 victory, the Canes are now -650 and Senators +450, but they say a series doesn’t really start until a home team loses. The over-under of five total games in the series is 5.5, and I lean over because I still lean Carolina in six games. That is priced +400 on the exact score prop, behind Hurricanes in five (+220) and a sweep (+260). Ottawa winning the next four games is a +1500 long shot.
In Game 3s all-time, Ottawa is 16-12 and 11-7 at home. Carolina is 12-24 in them in franchise history and 6-13 away. When trailing a playoff series 2-0 all-time, the Senators are 0-10 in said series. When leading a series 2-0, the Hurricanes are 10-2 in them.
The teams met twice at Canadian Tire Centre this season and split: Carolina won 4-1 on Jan. 24 and lost 6-3 on April 5.
Carolina Hurricanes
We hit our score prediction of 3-2 in favour of the Hurricanes in Game 2 on the nose Monday, it just took two overtimes to get there. And some crazy stuff in OT with Carolina failing on a rare penalty shot as well as the first apparent game-winning goal being overturned on review but taking a good five minutes for the decision.
Jordan Martinook won it at 13:53 of overtime. He was the guy stoned on a penalty shot in the first OT by Linus Ullmark. Thus, Martinook became the first player in NHL history to attempt a penalty shot in overtime and also tally the OT winner.
Logan Stankoven and Sebastian Aho had given the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead midway through the second period of regulation. Stankoven became only the fifth player in franchise history to open a postseason with goals in the first two games. The team record is three in a row by Pat Verbeek in 1991 when the club was in Hartford.
Frederik Andersen couldn’t hold that 2-0 lead but was stellar in OT and stopped 37 shots total. The Hurricanes have become the first team in NHL history with a 2-0 lead during their first best-of-seven series in six straight postseasons. The under is 5-0 in Carolina’s past five games.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators showed resilience bouncing back from the 2-0 deficit in Game 2, getting goals from Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens in the second period to even things up. But the Senators were unable to overcome a multi-goal deficit to win a playoff game for the eighth time in franchise history. They last did it in Game 5 of the 2017 second round.
Linus Ullmark was terrific in the loss with the penalty-shot stop in OT and totaled 43 saves. Those tied for the eighth-most saves by a Senators goaltender in a postseason game.
Blueliner Artem Zeb was unable to play after an undisclosed injury in Game 1 and replaced by Lassi Thomson – he saw 13:01 of ice time and had two blocked shots. Zeb is day-to-day.
Eleven Senators skaters set career-high time on ice marks in the loss led by Jake Sanderson playing a whopping 43:06. Ottawa is 5-1 in its past six at home, and it’s all but a must-win Game 3.
