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Senators look to bounce back against Hurricanes

Jan 17, 2008 - 2:35 PM Carolina (22-22-4) at Ottawa (29-12-4) 7:30 pm EST

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators hope to rebound from a pair of poor performances Thursday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in a clash of conference leaders.

The Senators have lost two straight, including a 4-2 setback against Washington on Tuesday.

It marked just the fourth time all season that Ottawa, which boasts the best record in the Eastern Conference, has lost back-to-back games.

Daniel Alfredsson had an assist in the loss, extending his point streak to 11 games. The right wing leads the Northeast Division-leading Senators with 29 goals and 60 points.

Ottawa will be looking to get back into the win column against the Hurricanes, the co-leader of the Southeast Division who dropped a 6-0 decision in the last meeting between the teams on December 12.

The Hurricanes have been struggling lately, losing their last three contests and going just 2-6-1 in their last nine games overall.

Sergei Samsonov scored his first goal of the season and had two assists in the Hurricanes' most recent defeat, a 5-4 loss to Toronto on Tuesday.

The skid has dropped the Hurricanes to the .500 mark for the first time since they were 1-1-1 on October 6.