Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1 -- Game 5: @ Ottawa -- 7 p.m. today -- TV: FSN Pittsburgh.

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

OTTAWA -- Gary Roberts has accomplished an awful lot during his 19 seasons in the National Hockey League.

He has won a Stanley Cup, appeared in 1,156 regular-season games and 118 more during the playoffs and overcome a horrific neck injury.

But for all he has experienced and achieved, Roberts never has played on a team that has overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series, the kind the Penguins face as they prepare to meet Ottawa in Game 5 of their opening-round series at 7:08 tonight at Scotiabank Place.

He knows it can be done, though, because he has seen it happen. Had way too good of a view, actually, because he was on the Calgary team that lost Games 5, 6 and 7 -- the first two in overtime, the last in double-overtime -- to Vancouver in 1994.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Mark Recchi: "We've dug a hole. Now let's see what we can do. ... Ifwe go up there and steal a game and bring it back [to Pittsburgh] for Game 6, all of a sudden, it gets pretty tight." Click photo for larger image. Related articles Penguins Notebook: Therrien questions Game 4 officiating, keeps top line intact Spezza's defense no longer offensive to his coach Ottawa Notebook: Corvo slips into playoff mode fast Mellon will get first slapshot at new arena's naming rights

"I've been in that situation before, on the other end," Roberts said. "Hopefully, that's going to be the case for us."

That hardly seems likely, given the quality of Ottawa's lineup and the Senators' strong play for most of the series, but there is precedent for teams rallying from being down, 3-1, to win a series: It has been done 20 times in NHL history, twice by the Penguins.

"It's definitely doable," defenseman Mark Eaton said.

True enough, although the Penguins probably shouldn't start breaking down tape of possible second-round opponents just yet. Not only do roughly 90 percent of the teams that build a 3-1 advantage end up advancing to the next round, but the Penguins are 3-7 in their past 10 Game 5s and 4-6 the past 10 times they have faced elimination.

Coincidentally, all four victories while facing elimination came in series when the Penguins rebounded from a 3-2 deficit to win Games 6 and 7. They did it against New Jersey in the opening round in 1999 and Buffalo in the second round two years later.

Whether the Penguins' performance during a 2-1 loss in Game 4 Tuesday should give them genuine hope or strip them of it is a matter of perspective.

It was universally acknowledged to be their finest showing of the series -- "Pittsburgh played very, very strong," Senators coach Bryan Murray said -- and demonstrated that they are capable of competing with Ottawa on fairly even terms.

"If we go into Ottawa and play that way, we give ourselves a chance," center Sidney Crosby said. "If we do that again, there's no reason we can't come out of there [with a victory]."

That's a valid point, but if the Penguins' best performance to date wasn't enough to earn a victory, what makes them think that a similar one will produce a different result, let alone three of them?

Score Game 4 on a 10-point must system, and perhaps the Penguins come out on top. Do it the conventional way -- by which club ends up with the most goals -- and, well, not so much.

"They'll probably admit that they stole one from us," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "That's what good teams do, so you have to give them credit for that."

There are many things for which the Senators deserve credit. Their special teams have been strong, their five-on-five work excellent and the goaltending of Ray Emery mostly solid.

If the Senators have a major soft spot, the Penguins have not detected it, let alone exploited it.

The Senators are talented, deep, poised, confident and motivated, as the status of the series reflects.

"We know they're a good team over there," Roberts said. "They've been fighting for years trying to win playoff rounds, so they know what it's like to be in those situations."

Still, the Penguins had some success getting the puck in deep and creating scoring chances by cycling it in Game 4, which is part of the reason they were awarded four power plays during the second period.

"Their [defensemen] were struggling, big-time," winger Jarkko Ruutu said. "They were getting tired and started taking penalties. Little things like that, that's what it's all about. We just have to keep doing it."

Of course, getting those chances with the extra man does not matter much if the Penguins don't capitalize on them, and their power play is coming off a 0-for-9 slump in two games at Mellon Arena.

Extend that stretch of futility tonight, and there's a good chance their season will end. Defy the odds and win Game 5, however, and what appears to be nearly impossible will morph into a mere long shot.

"We've dug a hole," right winger Mark Recchi said. "Now, let's see what we can do. ... If we go up there and steal a game and bring it back [to Pittsburgh] for Game 6, all of a sudden, it gets pretty tight.

"Then, if you can get it to Game 7, anything can happen."