It's the losses to the lower-echelon teams that the Senators will regret most if they wind up missing the playoffs.

And it's their failures against the New York Islanders that will come back to haunt them if they wind up cleaning out their lockers after their April 11 visit to Toronto for their last game of the regular season.

Coach Craig Hartsburg was critical of his team's effort following the latest setback at the hands of the Isles, a 4-2 flop Saturday.

"I don't think we played very good at all," he said. "I don't think we competed hard enough for 60 minutes to beat that team. We didn't play well at all."

Along with the inability to handle the pressure forecheck of the New Yorkers, the Senators are having difficulties solving the goaltending of Joey MacDonald.

Specifically, anyone whose name is not Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson or Jason Spezza.

In losing three times to MacDonald since Nov. 11, the Senators have scored just five times. Four of the goals have come from their No. 1 line, with the fifth off the stick of defensemen Filip Kuba.

After the latest disappointment, Hartsburg spoke of how the team needs to bounce back hard in its next game, Wednesday at Scotiabank Place vs. the Atlanta Thrashers.

It would help if the Senators could find some secondary scoring. Guys like Chris Kelly (one goal), Antoine Vermette (two goals) and Mike Fisher (three goals) need to start turning chances into results.

ISLANDERS 4, SENATORS 2: The Senators had only five shots on goal in the first period and seven in the second, but they were still tied 1-1 with the Islanders heading into the final minute of the middle period. With 35 seconds left until the intermission, they allowed D Freddy Meyer to break loose and convert a setup off what should have been nothing more than a 3-on-3 rush. C Mike Fisher took a high sticking penalty 13 seconds later, and even though the Senators killed off that New York power play, the momentum from it allowed the Islanders to take a two-goal lead 10 seconds after Fisher stepped out of the box in the third. Ottawa seemed to wake up when it was trailing by two, but the hole proved too big.

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