The Senators are in a familiar — and uncomfortable — playoff position.
Jackson Blake scored the winner in the second period and Frederik Anderson made 21 saves as Carolina beat Ottawa 2-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the teams’ first-round playoff series Thursday.
Logan Stankoven had the other goal for the Hurricanes, who can sweep the best-of-seven showdown Saturday afternoon back at Canadian Tire Centre. Taylor Hall added two assists.
Drake Batherson replied for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots.
The Senators also trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 in last year’s opening round before eventually falling in six games.
Only four NHL teams have ever battled back to win a series after losing the first three games.
Carolina, which has made the Eastern Conference final two of the last three springs and are this season’s top seed in the bracket, snapped a 1-1 tie with 2:31 left in the second, moments after Ottawa got on the board inside a pulsating rink.
K’Andre Miller moved down the left side on Ullmark before finding Blake with a cross-ice feed he buried into an yawning net.
The Senators started to push with under nine minutes to go in regulation, but the suffocating Hurricanes gave up very little in front of Anderson to send Ottawa into a deep playoff hole.
Carolina took Game 1 with a grinding 2-0 victory before securing a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 2.
Ottawa survived three minor penalties in the first, but was undone by a familiar nemesis before that parade to the box.
After the Senators pushed off the rush at the other end, the visitors raced the other way and Stankoven eventually buried his third of the series — and third opening goal in as many games to set a playoff franchise record — past Ullmark at 5:13 with the home side trying to get organized in the defensive zone.
Ottawa, which went 0-for-7 on the power play through the first two games, had two opportunities early in the second, but didn’t do much with the extra man.
Head coach Travis Green talked about frustration creeping into his man-advantage units against Carolina’s aggressive penalty kill in a double-overtime loss in Game 2, and Thursday’s crowd showed its own angst with boos after disjointed zone entries and lack of chances.
The second Carolina penalty came when Hall was whistled for an illegal check to the head on Ottawa’ No. 1 defenceman Jake Sanderson, whose helmet flew off, and left fans calling for a major.
The Senators got a third opportunity and then 98 seconds of 5-on-3, but again did nothing with the opportunity. Sanderson blocked a shot on the previous shift with his hand and was out for the two-man advantage, but departed shortly thereafter and didn’t return.
Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk moved in alone on Andersen later in the period only to have his backhand kicked aside. The gritty winger slammed the door in another moment of anger after getting to the bench.
Batherson finally got the Senators on the board at 16:06 of the second when Carolina forward Jordan Martinook pushed the puck back over his team’s blue line with two opponents still inside the zone.
Nick Cousins fed Batherson on a mini 2-on-1 and he roofed a backhand upstairs before Blake silenced the crowd 1:23 later.
Ottawa got a blue-line boost before Sanderson’s exit with the return of Tyler Kleven, who hadn’t played since April 2 after taking a puck to the face.
Fellow defenceman Artem Zub, meanwhile, missed a second straight game after departing the opener in the first period with an undisclosed injury.
