Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Peter Schaefer and Mike Fisher scored in the first seven minutes of the game to propel the Ottawa Senators to a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the decisive Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the First Union Center.

The Senators won back-to-back games to capture the best-of-seven series, 4-2, and advanced to the conference finals for the first time since re-joining the league in 1992. Ottawa, the top seed in the East, will play the second-seeded New Jersey Devils for the conference championship and the right to play for the Stanley Cup.

Daniel Alfredsson and Bryan Smolinski also scored for the Senators, who built a 4-0 lead and cruised to the victory. Schaefer, Fisher and Martin Havlat each finished with a goal and an assist for Ottawa, while Patrick Lalime made 18 saves.

"It is a great relief to win any round," Alfredsson said. "A lot of things can happen. We did a good job to win the first round and now the second round, but if we lose in the third round I don't think we would feel any better than if we lost in the second round. We have a great thing going, but we have to keep pushing."

Michal Handzus scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who were outscored 10-3 in the final two games and lost consecutive games for the first time in the 2003 playoffs. Philadelphia had been 5-0 following a loss this playoff season.

Roman Cechmanek made 25 saves in defeat. The Flyers, who also lost to Ottawa in the first round of last year's playoffs, were trying to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2000.

Philadelphia was eliminated on home ice for the fifth time in the last six years.

The Senators took advantage of a Flyer turnover to take a 1-0 lead just 2:41 into the contest. Kim Johnsson lost the puck near his own blue line and Havlat picked it up to create a 2-on-1 down low. Havlat drew Cechmanek well out of the crease and made a pass from the left circle while falling to the ice. Schaefer then had a wide open net from below the right circle to deposit his second goal of the series.

"We needed a better start. When they got the lead, our lack of energy really started to show," said Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock in reference to his team's tiredness as a result of the seven-game battle with Toronto in the first round.

The Flyers went on a power play about 2 1/2 minutes later when Shaun Van Allen was whistled off for hooking, but the Senators scored shorthanded to take a 2-0 advantage.

Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden fired the puck around the boards from deep in his own zone and Magnus Arvedson tipped it out to Fisher for a breakaway. Flyer defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson tried to cut off the angle to the net, but Fisher skated down the left wing and snapped a shot from the circle past Cechmanek on the short side for his second goal of the playoffs.

"We like playing with the lead," said Redden, who finished with two assists. "We hadn't had it too much in the first period in this series. We came out hard and got a few good goals and took over from there."

The Flyers failed to cash in a power play early in the second period, but the Senators were able to convert one of their own with 5:54 left in the stanza for a three-goal margin.

Marian Hossa carried the puck along the right wing and cut through the circle toward the net before trying to slide a shot home. Cechmanek made the save, but the rebound caromed into the slot for Alfredsson, who quickly fired it past the sprawled netminder for his fourth goal of the series.

Smolinski scored just 2:21 later to increase the lead to 4-0. Todd White had the puck in the low right circle and fed a pass across the goal mouth to a wide open Smolinski, who slammed a shot into the empty side of the net for his second playoff goal.

"They played a perfect game defensively and we weren't able to crack them," said Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick. "They came with a lot of speed. We just weren't able to keep up."

The Flyers finally answered with 1:53 to play in the period when Handzus scored his second of the series on a backhander from the slot.

Ottawa sealed it with 6:23 left in the third on Havlat's fourth goal. Schaefer chipped the puck out of the Ottawa zone, resulting in a loose puck headed toward the Flyer end. Havlat easily beat a charging Cechmanek for the puck, skated around the sliding netminder and fired a shot into the vacated cage.

Philadelphia was 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 6 and finished 0-for-17 in the series. Ottawa converted 6-of-25 power-play chances in the six games, including 1-for-4 in Game 6.

"Their power play was better than ours, their penalty killing was better than ours," said Hitchcock. "They scored two shorthanded goals. They were just better."

The Senators won four Stanley Cup titles in the 1920s during the early years of the NHL, but the franchise disbanded in the early 1930s. Ottawa improved to 8-0 this playoff season when scoring a goal. The Senators have been shut out in each of their three losses this post-season.

The Flyers had scored the first goal in each of the first five games of the series.