There has been no love lost between the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators throughout their Round One matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and after the events of Game 3, it’s safe to say that the general sense of dislike has only deepened after Taylor Hall’s check to the head resulted in Jake Sanderson leaving the game.
Just 4:24 into the second period of Thursday night’s game in Ottawa, Ontario, Hall was assessed a two-minute minor penalty after an illegal check to the head against Sanderson. The hit occurred in the Senators’ defensive zone as Hall and Sanderson both went for the loose puck after Nikolas Matinpalo disrupted Logan Stankoven’s pass to Jackson Blake.
The shoulder hit from Hall knocked off the helmet of Sanderson, who remained on his skates and proceeded to punch Hall in the back of the head, as Matinpalo and Ridly Greig converged on him alongside Sanderson soon after.
Taylor Hall with two minutes in the box for an illegal check to the head of Jake SandersonOddly, no retaliatory penalty on Sanderson for punching Hall in the head#SoundTheSiren #GoSensGo #NHL #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/jmXeux5zYO
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) April 24, 2026
No retaliatory penalties were assessed, and Sanderson spent two more shifts on the ice – the final of which lasted for 2:44. During those shifts, he landed a hit on Sebastian Aho, and also blocked a shot from Blake with his hand – the latter of which being what many believed was the reason for his absence for the remainder of the game.
“I think it’s pretty obvious why he left the game,” Senators head coach Travis Green answered when asked for the reason for his departure from the game. “I just don’t understand how there’s not a five-minute major called on the hit to the head. It’s a blatant hit to the head; kinda hits you don’t wanna see. I think it’s ridiculous there wasn’t a review.
He further pointed towards a review called on Brady Tkachuk, who himself delivered a dirty hit to an unsuspecting Jordan Martinook, though it was reduced to a two-minute minor for interference.
“They call a review on Brady, on a penalty that I don’t even know what the penalty was, and then they totally miss a review. I mean, I’d be shocked if there isn’t some kinda review from the league on that, and something done.”
The injury to Sanderson is yet another heavy blow to the Senators, who lost their other top-pairing defenseman, Artem Zub, in the first half of Game 1 in Raleigh on Saturday.
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