Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - The Ottawa Senators try to secure their first-ever trip to the Eastern Conference finals tonight when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of their semifinal set at the First Union Center.

A victory would earn the Sens, who won the Presidents' Trophy for having the NHL's best record in the regular season, a date with the New Jersey Devils in the next round. Jersey defeated Tampa Bay in five games to move on.

Ottawa holds a three games to two series lead thanks to its convincing 5-2 home victory in Game 5 on Saturday. After falling behind 1-0 in the opening 21 seconds, the Senators reeled off five straight tallies -- busting the game open with a pair 1:51 apart in the second period. Ottawa's special teams were nothing short of spectacular, scoring two power-play goals and one shorthanded marker.

"Everybody brought their best to the table. It was a really important game for us," said Senators forward Marian Hossa, who assisted on both PPGs. "They scored first, but we found a way to get back and get some power-play goals. Our special teams were key again."

Radek Bonk posted a goal and an assist, and Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat, Peter Schaefer and Bryan Smolinski tallied as well. Patrick Lalime finished with 17 saves.

Ottawa continued the trend of resilience in this series, as all three of its victories have come after falling behind. In fact, Philadelphia, which made a habit of holding leads all season, has scored first in each game of this set.

Claude Lapointe scored the early goal for the Flyers, and Radovan Somik added a third-period tally with the outcome already sealed. Goaltender Roman Cechmanek continued his Jekyll and Hyde postseason by allowing four goals on 16 shots before being pulled in favor of Robert Esche midway through the second period.

Cechmanek and the Flyers again couldn't follow up a win with another win, something they've done only once in these playoffs (Games 4 and 5 against Toronto). However, the team is 5-0 on the heels of defeat, and Cechmanek has allowed a total of four goals in those games -- including a pair of shutouts in this series.

"You could say we've put ourselves in a position where we're most comfortable," said Flyers captain Keith Primeau, whose club is 0-for-14 on the power play this set. "Our backs are against the wall for two games and we have to be ready to get a win [tonight]."

Ottawa, meanwhile, has tremendous pressure to get things done and advance, because of its past playoff failure and the fact that the team had the best record in the NHL this season.

"We know that this game is going to be the biggest challenge of the season for us. We've got to do what it takes to win," said Alfredsson. "We can't even think about the fact we [would] play Game 7 at home. We know that if we play well, we can beat them and we know that we can win in their building."

The Sens have had some trouble historically when in this situation, losing two of their three series when ahead three games to two. They are 0-2 all-time in Game 6 after winning the previous contest.

Last season against Toronto in the second round, Ottawa carried a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 at the Corel Centre and lost, 4-3. The Maple Leafs then won the seventh game, 3-0, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

If Philadelphia wins tonight, Game 7 would be played Wednesday night in Ottawa.