NHL

He doesn't appear to be close to returning to the lineup after his heavy collision with Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik on May 14 in Game 1.

"Nothing to update," said coach Paul MacLean about Neil after the Ottawa tough guy wasn't at the rink on Monday. If he's not available to play in Game 4 Wednesday then Matt Kassian or Guillaume Latendresse are the likeliest candidates to replace him.

"I feel good," Spezza said Monday. "To play a double-overtime game and coming out no worse for wear is definitely positive for me and encouraging that I made the right decision [to play]. I took a pretty good pounding and played more than we had initially planned, but it's all positive and I hope to get even better as we go on." He was nailed on a big hit from Pittsburgh's Craig Adams in the first overtime session, which proved to be a good test.

The award is presented to "the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice during the regular season." He is up for the honor along with Chicago's Jonathan Toews and Los Angeles' Dustin Brown. Alfredsson is the league's longest-serving active captain and he's involved in several charities, including the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa which he has supported for the past 10 seasons.

He won 60 percent of his faceoffs and posted four shots after being sidelined since Jan. 27 due to a back injury which required surgery. Spezza understands that even though he feels much better, back issues can be something that linger. "It's better than before I had surgery, but it's going to take awhile before I feel 100 percent," he said. "Once you have back problems, they never really leave you. It's kind of a daily grind. I've done exercises every day for the last six years. My wife doesn't like when I have to sit on the floor and stretch instead of sitting on the couch with her. I wouldn't wish back pain on my worst enemy."

The Senators ended up winning the contest in double overtime to get back into the series, where they trail Pittsburgh 2-1. Alfredsson's third goal of the playoffs came shorthanded when the Penguins chose to play passive and defend rather than attack. The Ottawa captain has eight points in eight postseason contests.

As was the case on numerous occasions throughout the season, Anderson was the single-biggest reason for the Ottawa victory on this night. With a 2.17 GAA and .940 save percentage in the postseason, there's no question he's holding up his end of the bargain.