At some point during the game where Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck were lighting up the scoreboard, the Ottawa Senators themselves finally realized what most of those outside the room have already known for varying amounts of time - that a playoff spot wasn't in the cards this season.
Twice they battled back from 1 goal deficits early on, but the Panthers continued to apply the pressure and after a pair of goals in 14 seconds, it was all over en route to the 6-2 loss.
It wasn't a great effort from the start, and basic simple plays were missed. Misplays on 2-on-1's with defensemen not being even close to the right position to take away a pass to not knowing who to cover 4 on 4, the Senators had no business winning that game.
There were a couple of bright spots, as Zack Smith notched his 20th goal of the season, and Erik Karlsson added a goal and an assist to keep above the point-per-game mark in quest of reaching that elusive mark for a full season.
Other than that, it was a less than mediocre performance all around in a game where desperation should have been the order of the day. Craig Anderson was hung out to dry on multiple occasions, and he didn't come up with the needed saves in those situations. With Detroit, Montreal, New Jersey and Carolina all winning their games on Thursday, the writing is now on the wall for even the die-hard believers, even the ones who still believed that there was a chance, to read.
With that effort, the white flag seems to have been waved, and now the attention turns to the now 5% chance (up from yesterday's 3.5% now that Montreal is technically ahead of them) of nabbing the first overall pick in June's draft.
There isn't much else to say about that one....and honestly I thought today I would match my effort with that of the team :)