It was bound to happen, all things considered. There are some games you play well enough to win and win, you play well enough to win and lose, don't play well enough to win and come away with a win, and then there is last night in Raleigh for the Senators.

They didn't play well enough to win, and with over one third of their offense on the sidelines, there wasn't enough in the lineup to overcome lackluster play, even against the last place team in the Eastern Conference.

As I suggested yesterday, the young Hurricanes have nothing to lose so they can play with a little bit more margin for error, and they used that attitude to swarm the Senators right from the opening puck drop. As they have done in each of the games this season, they scored early when Jordan Staal put a wraparound past Craig Anderson 1:19 into the game. I wasn't worried for the Senators, expecting Dion Phaneuf to tie it and then Kyle Turris to win it, as was the case in the previous two outings.

But, those games were in Ottawa, and it is an entirely different story for the Senators in Carolina, where they simply can never win for unknown reasons. Carolina didn't let up, and put 19 shots on goal in the first period alone, and 44 in total for the game. Ottawa escaped down by just the one goal, in a period where the officials let everything go but at least it was both ways as both teams were upset, and rightly so, about some non-calls.

Ottawa played a better second period and had some push-back, but apparently there is an invisible force-field around Hurricanes' nets in Raleigh, and even when they beat Eddie Lack, there were posts in the way or a Carolina defenseman in the right place at the right time to make a save or block a shot on an empty net. The Senators couldn't get a bounce, and in a period where they had the edge in play, the Hurricanes were the ones who made chances count as Elias Lindholm and Viktor Stalberg both scored in the last 5 minutes to put a game where the Senators still had a glimmer of hope out of reach.

The third period was largely uneventful given the pace at which the first two were played, and the only question was whether or not Lack would get his first shutout in over a calendar year, which he did, turning away a total of 34 Senators shots in a 3-0 final.

All in all, it was a night to forget, and the Senators can now look ahead to a big contest with the Panthers, a club that roared up the standings with a sweep of a 5 game road trip but has now lost their first two back at home (including Friday night to the Flames). With a bit of luck they will get Mark Stone back for that pivotal matchup, which would be a big boost to their lineup as he has been a force for the team and one of the best players in the league in the month of February before he got hurt.

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