OTTAWA -- Fresh off their first-round demolition of the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators had a familiar face back in the fold on Sunday. No. 1 centre Jason Spezza practised with his teammates for the first time since undergoing back surgery for a herniated disc on Feb. 1 and says it was nice to take another step in his recovery. "Its been a long process and a long season for me," Spezza said. "It felt good to join the team again and get some reps in. It may not seem like it and I may not play this year, but for me its a small victory." Despite speculation that Spezza could be done for the season, the fact the 29-year-old took part in a full practice was encouraging. Spezza, who had been skating on his own before joining the Ottawas AHL callups for more training, says he had some "ups and downs" over the course of his recovery but made improvements over the last few weeks that allowed him to take part in a regular practice. Whether or not he plays this season depends on how is body reacts. The Senators will take on the No. 1 seed Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs after Ottawa disposed of second-ranked Montreal in five games. "I always felt there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel and when that is I dont know," Spezza said. "But Im going to keep pushing towards getting better so I can try to play." The Senators top centre played in just five games this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists, before being forced to have surgery. Spezza last played on Jan. 27, coincidentally against the Penguins. Its unclear whether Spezza will travel to Pittsburgh, but Senators coach Paul MacLean doesnt seem to have much hope he will play in the first two games of the series. "Hes a long ways away," said MacLean after practice. On Saturday, the coach said he would love nothing more than to have Spezza back in the lineup, but if and when that happens he has to be able to slide right in. "Thats the important factor for me ... Jason has to be up to speed to where the team is playing," said MacLean. "And the treadmill goes pretty fast in the second round of the playoffs." Spezza understands MacLeans thinking and says in no way does he want to be a hindrance to the team. "As a player you have to be confident. The only way youre going to have any success if you come back to play is to be confident. I have to make sure I have confidence in myself that Im going to help the team," he said. "The team has played real well and done real good things and the only way that I want to come back is if I feel I can help the team." Thats not to say Spezza wouldnt love to be a part of this second-round series. "I wish I could play next game," he said. "Its all going to be how I respond. I have to push myself. Thats why were really going to try to push forward here the next three days and it might tell me its not time to play or it might respond real well. "Id be lying if I tried to give you a straight answer on when I thought I would play." Teammates were thrilled to see Spezza back on the ice and while they are tempering expectations, the Senators know he would bring a significant contribution to the lineup. "You dont want to get excited too early, but at the same time if hes going to come back hes going to help us a lot," defenceman Sergei Gonchar said. "Overall he can help us creating offence." The Penguins offer a different challenge than the Canadiens, but the Senators feel confident they match up well. "We know were in tough against a very good team," captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "But we definitely dont think its a task thats impossible." The series has added intrigue considering it was the skate of Pittsburghs Matt Cooke that led to Erik Karlsson missing most of the regular season with a partially severed Achilles tendon. "Whatever happened, happened and Im back playing and Im happy," Karlsson said. "Its not something Im thinking about and Im sure hes not thinking about it either." Both Karlsson and MacLean say the incident wont be a distraction for the teams other than creating discussion for the next few days. "We have to go out and play our best game if we want to beat Pittsburgh," Karlsson said. "Theyve had an unbelievable season so far and they have a great team and weve got to play our best to even have a chance. "If we can find some consistency for 60 minutes in all the games we play I think well have a good chance." The Senators watched with interest as the New York Islanders won two games against the Penguins and came close to forcing a Game 7. "Were going to study it, especially the ones (the Islanders) won and figure out if they did anything that was surprising or different," MacLean said. "I think we have a good handle on Pittsburgh and how they like to play and its just a matter of us sticking to it." Notes: Pittsburgh was 2-0-1 against Ottawa in the regular season. ... Senators forward Milan Michalek was not on the ice at practice, but MacLean says it was just a maintenance day. Defenceman Patrick Wiercioch (lower-body injury) isnt expected to be ready for the start of the series. Hydro Flask Coffee Belgie . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Hydro Flask Waterflessen . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. http://www.belgiehydroflask.com/ . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Hydro Flask Kopen . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Hydro Flask Wit . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. LOUDON, N.H. -- Matt Kenseth was always near the front of the pack. He stalked the leaders and waited for contenders to wilt.Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. faded down the stretch. So did Denny Hamlin.It almost seemed like a repeat scenario for Kenseth.Just like last fall on the same track when Kevin Harvicks lead evaporated when he ran out of fuel, Kenseth pounced. He pulled away down the stretch to win the Sprint Cup race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.Truex and Busch each led more than 120 laps before faltering over the final 75 laps, paving the way for Kenseth to win for the second time this season.Kenseth also won the New Hampshire race last September. He has 38th career victories.Last fall, we squeaked one out, a little more fuel than Kevin and a little different strategy, but not quite as good a car, Kenseth said. Today, I felt like we had the best car.NASCAR said Kenseths No. 20 Toyota failed the post-race laser inspection station and will be brought to the research and development center in Concord, North Carolina, for more evaluation. The penalty for that kind of failure has traditionally been a 15-point penalty. But this was the first time a race winner was busted since the lasers were instituted in 2013.Tony Stewart finished second and strengthened his spot inside the top 30 in the points standings. Stewart has a win this season and needs to secure a spot in the top 30 in points to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He inched from 30th to 28th in points.Joey Logano was third, followed by Harvick and Greg Biffle.Alex Bowman had a solid day ruined when he hit the wall late and finished 26th driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt was sidelined because he suffered from symptoms of a concussion.Truex tumbled to 16th when his Toyota suffered a broken shifter and Busch dropped to eighth when he could never break free on late-race restarts.Were doing everything right, but were taking some on the chin here, Truex said.That allowed Kenseth, Buschs Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, to cruise to the top and snatch the lead with fellow JGR teammate Denny Hamlin with 30 laps He drove away on the final restart with 11 to go in the 301-mile race and soon the traditional lobster plopped on the hood of his Toyota.But this race could be the one remembered for truly solidifying Stewart in Chase contention. He snapped an 84-race losing streak last month at Sonoma and was fifth last week at Kentucky Speedway. Smoke is heating up this summer and could be racing for a fourth championship in his final NASCAR season.Everyone wants this last year to be good, Stewart said. Sonoma, I think really helped relax everybody.Kenseth became the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2004 to win consecutive starts at New Hampshire. He didnt win in his first 27 Cup starts at the track but has three wins in his last three races at the 1.058-mile track.It used to be one of my worst places and now I feel like its one of our better places, he said.Here are other items of nnote from Sundays race:---BOWMANS RUNBowman enjoyed perhaps the final race of his Sprint Cup career, running inside the top 10 and seemingly in position for his best finish in 72 starts.ddddddddddddBut Bowmans run in the No. 88 Chevrolet ended with a thud when a tire issue slammed his car into the wall and he finished 26th in his first Cup race of the season.Ive never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys, he said. I had a lot of fun passing really good cars.With four-time champion Jeff Gordon set to take the wheel next week if Earnhardt isnt cleared, Bowman is out of options for the rest of the year.The result will not show what a great job (at)AlexBRacing and the (at)nationwide88 gang did this weekend. Proud of them guys, Earnhardt tweeted.Bowman had no top-10 finishes in 71 starts over the 2014-2015 seasons with BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing.I dont think Ive gotten out of a Cup car with a smile on my face in a while, he said. Its just so much fun to be able to run up front like that. Ive spent two years of my career wondering if I can really do this at the Cup level and today I answered that for myself.-----UNHAPPY HARVICKHarvick was hardly happy over his top-five finish.He went on TV after the race and blasted his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet pit crew for continued poor stops that cost him a serious shot at the checkered flag.Im disgusted to tell you the truth. Its the same thing every week. We just make mistake after mistake and until we clean that up we dont have a chance to win races putting ourselves in a hole every time we make a mistake, Harvick said.He added, Its really going to have to come from the top. I mean, they are going to have to clamp down and there is no way we can win a championship like this unless they straighten some of this stuff out.Harvicks crew had problems with lug nuts and the air gun on two separate spots that sunk him from contention.We always do something wrong, he said.-----KEZS STREAKBrad Keselowski failed in his bid to win three races. He followed wins at Daytona International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway with a 15th-place finish on Sunday.-----JUNIOR UPDATETeam owner Rick Hendrick does not think the concussion symptoms that sidelined Earnhardt are career threatening. He hoped to have NASCARs most popular driver back in the car next week at the Brickyard.Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will come out of retirement and drive the 88 next week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway if Earnhardt does not return. Hendrick says Gordon will likely remain in the car should Earnhardt need an extended absence.Earnhardt will have more tests early this week. Hendrick Motorsports will likely make a decision on Earnhardts availability on Wednesday.-----UP NEXTKyle Busch heads to the Brickyard as the defending winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ' ' '
