STONE COLD AWESOME!

Rookie leads Sens in thrilling win

Now, do you believe?

Even the hockey gods seem to bless this outrageous feel-good story that is the Ottawa Senators, the story that has legs in April.

With their stunning comefrom-behind 4-3 victory over the Penguins in their last regular season home game, the Senators pulled even with Boston in points, leaving the Canadian Tire Centre arena door open to the possibilities of a return for playoff hockey in the coming weeks.

After their latest miracle, winning in overtime after being down by three goals late in the second period, does anyone doubt the Senators can make a final push to a wild card?

New season slogan: Expect the unexpected.

As with all great comebacks, this one began with a goofy bounce off an opponent’s skate. During a penalty kill, J.G. Pageau was trying to find a red jersey in the Pittsburgh crease, but found a better home for his pass — a friendly bounce off Derrick Pouliot’s skate. Hockey god karma — it was Pouliot who panicked in the Ottawa zone, allowing the break out.

“Once we scored, the pressure shifted a little bit (onto Pittsburgh),” said head coach Dave Cameron.

From there, it was a matter of time, a quick turnover early in the third, leading to a Mark Stone goal. And then the tying goal, a slingshot from the point by Mike Hoffman, and the OT winner by Stone, earning votes by the minute for the Calder Trophy.

“I just wanted to give him the puck,” said captain Erik Karlsson about the game winner. “He’s been pretty hot lately.”

Classic Senators stuff. Kids star, Hammond saves.

On fan appreciation night, fans appreciated the gift of meaningful hockey in March and early April, not to mention this final display on home ice. They wanted Senators players to know they appreciated the gutsy effort. There was plenty of that in home game 41, though it took a while to kick in.

Whether it was stage fright, or just the shock of a Sidney Crosby goal before the game was 10 seconds old, a home team that was expected to charge out of the gate in their biggest game of the season was stunned into early chaos.

Giveaways and minus-dashes marked period one.

It wasn’t until the second period that the Senators trademark composure returned, and while it took a fluky bounce off a Penguins skate, that goal was a just reward for Ottawa’s push.

Whatever rivalry has developed is based on the three playoff series involving the two teams, between 2007 and 2010, but the importance of this game heightened every physical exchange.

The Penguins have long been in the high-rent district of NHL salary cap teams, led by all-world forwards Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, while the Senators are a budget team that handed the keys to the playoff race to a bunch of kids and an AHL goalie. (Who knew this would actually be a good idea?).

In seven of the last eight seasons, the Penguins have registered 100 points or more (including a pro-rated total for the 48-game season) and qualified for the post-season every year.

In the only season of the eight the Penguins didn’t hit 100, they won the Stanley Cup.

In contrast, the Senators don’t have a single 100-point season in any of their last seven campaigns and missed the playoffs three times. Yet, the young Senators came into this vital game with Pittsburgh separated by just two points in the standings. Now, just one.

Have the Senators risen closer to Penguins heights or have the mighty fallen?

One could make a case that there are elements of both trends. The bigger question, though: How much can we read into the Penguins struggles, considering such key players as Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, Christian Ehrhoff and Pascal Dupuis are out of their lineup. Similarly, is it dangerous to assume too much about the Senators when their push to contention was sprinkled with Hamburglar dust?

For weeks, media have been asking the Senators the source of their magical run. Built on the foundation of Andrew Hammond’s goaltending, the run also featured the sparkling play of Karlsson and forwards Kyle Turris, Stone and the Pageau energy line.

The same reporters would like to know, from Pittsburgh’s perspective, how it could be that they’re life and death to reach the post-season in the final week of the season.

“That’s hockey,” Crosby said beforehand, while setting out to explain how league parity and Pittsburgh injuries have levelled the ice between the Penguins and their pursuers.

“You see a lot of teams that are fighting here right down to the end, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Crosby said.

“Every year is different and brings on different challenges. A lot of teams would like to be in this position, a lot of teams are out now ... we should be excited.”

Out of the gate, the Penguins played like they were excited, Crosby getting free and blasting a clapper past Hammond when the game was just 10 seconds old.

An expectant crowd, noisy by Ottawa standards, fell silent.

They found their voices, as the Senators found their game.

And what a game it was.