In a game with story-lines abound, the Senators fell short once again.
Despite the return of Jean-Gabriel Pageau from an achilles injury that sidelined him a little over four months, a few early goals and a miserable third period proved to be Ottawa’s undoing, as they fell 5-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Marcus Hogberg’s night was ended after surrendering three goals on 16 shots, and Anders Nilsson was solid in relief. The Senators also got great performances from Ryan Dzingel and Bobby Ryan, while rookie Rudolfs Balcers scored his first NHL goal, but their only real stretch of quality hockey came in the second.