Senators take the lead

NHL teams

Besides Alfredsson the Senators' hero of the night was goaltender Damian Rhodes who made 31 saves including a last-minute point-blank save on Doug Gilmour after Devils had rallied from 4-1 deficit with two goals.

Ottawa still needs to win one more game to claim their first ever playoff series. Game 5 will be in New Jersey and now the pressure has shifted on the Senators.

"Now they have nothing to lose," said Alfredsson. "If they lose one more, it's golf for them. We know the fourth one is the toughest one to win. We've got a lot of work to do."

The first round series is clearly moving in a direction that has surprised many including the Devils, who might have taken Ottawa too lighly and thought they were just going to cruise to second round.

"It's a tough situation for everyone to take," said New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur. "We really didn't expect to be in a situation like that in the first round. We put ourselves there and now we've got to try to get out of it."

In other games Washington beat Boston 3-0, to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Colorado defeated Edmonton, 3-1, and lead series 3-1. Detroit evened their series by beating Phoenix, 4-2. Also tied 2-2 in series are Dallas and San Jose after Sharks' 1-0 OT victory.