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Tim Ehrens 17y

Spring brings eternal hope for Senators

NHL, Ottawa Senators

BOSTON -- The Ottawa Senators are not ready to let the past haunt them.

They're in a good position not to after clinching home-ice advantage for their first-round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 6-3 victory over the Bruins on Saturday.

Now, the Senators look ahead to the playoffs, where they have been decidedly lackluster.

Their one shining moment was when they reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2003, losing in seven games to New Jersey. But every other season since 2000 has been riddled with disappointing first- and second-round exits despite an average point total of 106.2 the past five seasons. Despite all of the great talent they have had, including Alexei Yashin, Daniel Alfredsson and
Dominik Hasek, the Senators' total Stanley Cup finals appearances remains at zero.

Knowing their history, the postseason should conjure up feelings of fear in some. But the Senators are not afraid.

"I think we're in a good frame of mind," said assistant captain Wade Redden. "We've played some good hockey down the stretch and I think everyone has really bought into what we're trying to do, and that's what we're going to need to win.

"I don't think you can worry too much about the past. I think we've had good teams, and obviously it's disappointing not to go all the way, but that's our goal this year. We've got another great opportunity."

The Senators roll into the playoffs going 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, including a stretch of 5-0-1 in their last six road games.

"It's always an advantage," Redden said. "You always want to be at home to start. It's not the end-all, be-all, but it's definitely nice to get that home ice."

Of course, a playoff berth wouldn't be as sweet if the team hadn't earned it. Judging by the adversity Ottawa suffered this season and looking to where the team is now, it puts all the success in perspective.

The team started off the season on a sour note, losing Zdeno Chara and Hasek to free agency and trading away star forward Martin Havlat. The team responded by going 2-7-1 during a stretch in October and November, hitting the team hard mentally.

A dismal start like that makes this playoff berth all that much sweeter for Alfredsson, the team's captain.

"Early in the year it didn't look like we were going to make the playoffs at all, so we're really pumped to have the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, and we can't wait to get going," he said.

The challenges didn't stop there. In late December, Jason Spezza, the team's second-leading scorer, went down with a knee injury. Shortly after, fellow center Mike Fisher also went down with a knee injury. So what did the Senators do? They went 18-4-2 despite the huge offensive void.

"We had to dig deep," Alfredsson said. "We had some good goaltending and our special teams were really good at the time, and we just found ways to win. Obviously, it was a very important time of the year for us with a lot of home games, and if we didn't make the most of that, we wouldn't be here today in the playoffs. That was a big stretch for us."

"We've had to play pretty good hockey this year, and when I say 'good hockey,' I mean defensively, and we've played proper playoff hockey to win this year," said goalie Ray Emery.

So, where does Ottawa go from here? As the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and finishing second in the Northeast Division only to Presidents' Trophy-winning Buffalo, the Senators must take on a Pittsburgh team that has gone 3-1 against them this year, including a heartbreaking 4-3 shootout loss Thursday that delayed the Senators' clinching of home ice.

Ottawa will have a two-fold challenge against Pittsburgh in top scorers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who are head and shoulders above any player on their team in points with 120 and 85, respectively. The Penguins' power play is a big key to their success, which is evident in their league-leading 94 power-play goals.

"[Pittsburgh] has a couple guys we need to key on who carry a lot of the offense for them," Emery said. "We just need to stay out of the box because their power play is so good."

"I think we match up well against Pittsburgh and that home ice advantage means a lot," said winger Dany Heatley. "If the series goes seven games, then we get the last chance to play in front of our fans. I think I was more nervous last year but I'm excited we have another chance [in the playoffs]."

Alfredsson knows that the playoffs will be a hard road to forge for his team, as they are expected to go deep.

"I think we kind of put that on ourselves," he said. "Our conference is so competitive. Anybody can beat anybody and we feel that we can beat anybody. But we're going to go play our game and play our best."

The talent is there, as in past years, as is the regular season success. But for the Senators to make a deep playoff run, Emery, Redden, and Alfredsson all agreed, Ottawa must play well defensively and to stay out of the penalty box.

When asked if his team is primed to make a deep playoff run, the man who has seen the Senators through almost every up and down just smiled and humbly offered his opinion.

"Every year you hope that this is the year," Alfredsson said. "Like I said, I think we can beat anybody, so I hope so."

Tim Ehrens is an intern at ESPN.com.

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