Senators Put Together a Survival Kit

Canadians on Monday celebrated Victoria Day, which marks the unofficial kickoff to the summer season.

The Ottawa Senators, however, failed to embrace the spirit of the holiday, postponing their summer vacations for at least two more days by defeating the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, in Game 5 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals.

The Devils still lead the best-of-seven series, three games to two, and history is on their side to win the East for the third time in four seasons, moving them into the Stanley Cup finals against the Western champion Mighty Ducks.

They are 8-0 in the playoffs in Continental Airlines Arena, where the series shifts for Game 6 on Wednesday night. And they’ve won all eight previous series in which they’ve led, 3-1, clinching six in Game 5 and two in Game 6.

But Jason Spezza, a 19-year-old rookie inserted into the Senator lineup to spark a moribund power play, helped ensure that this series would not end in front of a full-throated, towel-waving, Senator-backing crowd of 18,500 in the Corel Centre.

In his NHL playoff debut, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2001 NHL entry draft pitched in with a power-play goal and an assist, both in the third period.

Before Spezza assisted on a goal credited to Martin Havlat that broke a 1-1 tie with 12:01 to play -- actually, the puck was kicked into the net by Devil defenseman Richard Smehlik -- the Senators had not scored in the third period in this series.

And before Spezza redirected a pass from Chris Phillips between the legs of goaltender Martin Brodeur with 7:32 left, the league’s top-rated power play during the regular season had been 0 for 20 against the Devils.

“He played awesome,” Senator captain Daniel Alfredsson said of Spezza, who will turn 20 on June 13. “It’s a very tough situation to come into, but he worked himself into the game, made smart plays and played with poise.”

Spezza had seven goals and 21 points in 33 regular-season games for the Senators but was scratched through 15 playoff games.

He said he couldn’t have scripted his playoff debut any better.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “The most important thing was getting the win. That was my goal, and the goal of everybody in the dressing room. Obviously, I’m happy to come in and contribute, but I’m just happy to be here with these guys.”

Though it had been speculated upon in the media, Spezza said he didn’t find out that he would be in the lineup until a few hours before the game.

An early pop settled him.

“I got hit pretty hard on one of my first shifts,” he said, “so it kind of got me into it and kind of opened my eyes and said, ‘Let’s go now.’ ”

The Senators compiled a league-high 113 points during the regular season and won the opening game of the series, but the Devils had stormed back to win three in a row to push them to the brink of elimination.

Todd White scored a short-handed goal early in the second period to give them a 1-0 lead, but Scott Stevens answered for the Devils less than 2 1/2 minutes later.

In the third, Spezza shone.

“He sure made the coach look good,” Phillips said. “He did what 18,500 came to see him do. He’s a gifted, talented player, and that’s his specialty right there.”