SUNRISE, FLA. - The Senators went back to work Wednesday with the odds of making the playoffs stacked heavily against them and the countdown clock to the end of the season ticking even louder.
Trailing the Detroit Red Wings, who have two games in hand, by five points for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with only 14 games remaining, the Senators have no margin for error after they threw away a valuable point with their last-minute meltdown in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday.
The miraculous 20-1-2 run they made down the stretch to make the playoffs on the final day of the season last year is a distant memory as this one slips away with no signs of another one on the horizon as the Senators prepare to face the Florida Panthers here Thursday night to wrap up this road trip.