Senators Overtake Flyers, 5-2

The Ottawa Senators aren’t worried about scoring first as long as they score at least once.

Radek Bonk and Marian Hossa each had two power-play points, and Ottawa overcame an early deficit with five consecutive goals to beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, Saturday.

Ottawa, which gave up the first goal for the fifth consecutive game only 21 seconds in, is 7-0 in these playoffs when it manages to score. The three Senator losses have come by shutout.

The Senators are 7-22 in the playoffs when they give up the first goal

“We didn’t panic,” Hossa said about Claude Lapointe’s early goal. “It was the first shift of the game and we knew there was lots of time to get back, and that’s what we did.”

The Senators lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2, and can advance to the Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey with a win at Philadelphia on Monday night.

Game 7, if necessary, will be Wednesday at Ottawa.

“There are two games left,” Flyer Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “They’ve got to win one and we’ve got to win them both. All we’ve got to do is turn this into a one-game series.”

The Flyers have not lost consecutive games in this season’s playoffs.

Bonk and Daniel Alfredsson scored quickly on Ottawa’s first two power plays, with Hossa assisting on both goals.

“It’s a big part of the game, especially in the playoffs, when you get chances to make them pay and that’s what we did,” said Patrick Lalime, who made 17 saves.

Former King Bryan Smolinski, Martin Havlat and Peter Schaefer also scored for Ottawa, which moved within one game of advancing past the second round for the first time in its 11-year history.