Senators Gain Confidence Behind First-Year Coach The Senators saluted their fans in Ottawa after Kyle Turris scored in overtime to beat the Rangers, 3-2, on Wednesday night. The series is tied at two games apiece. OTTAWA - Among those who were surprised to find the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs were the team's fans. After the team missed the playoffs last season, Coach Paul MacLean repeatedly used "rebuilding" to describe this season in what appeared to be a campaign to dampen expectations. As the playoffs approached, the Senators appeared ready to join Montreal and Toronto in elimination. But a late-season surge by Senators defied expectations, causing Wayne Scanlan, the veteran sports columnist for The Ottawa Citizen, to describe the local fan reaction as "Pinch me, I'm dreaming." Although the Senators beat the Rangers three out of four times in the regular season, there was apprehension at the start of the playoffs about how Ottawa would fare against the East's top-seeded team. Any lingering doubts appeared to disappear after Ottawa's 3-2 overtime victory in Game 4, which tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Scanlan wrote in Friday's paper that the Senators were "the little miracle that keeps on giving." The team's fans are embracing the team's "Believe It" playoff slogan. Game 5 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden. MacLean appears to have been a significant factor in the team's resurgence, but he was quick to dismiss the idea and credit the players after Wednesday's win. MacLean, 54, seems to be the antithesis of Rangers Coach John Tortorella. Unlike the sharp-tongued Tortorella, whose emotions are often undisguised, MacLean is taciturn, almost placid in public. If Tortorella's suits suggest European tailoring, MacLean's suggest discount shopping, an effect accentuated by his bushy and somewhat unkempt mustache. MacLean's rise to a head coaching position has been slow, although he has gained considerable experience along the way. He was an assistant under Mike Babcock, first with the Anaheim Ducks and, until last June, with the Detroit Red Wings. Before the playoffs, MacLean told the CBC that the Senators stumbled early this season largely for one fundamental reason. "Half the team was playing one way, half the team was playing another way," he said. We were going nowhere doing that. MacLean's arrival in Ottawa brought him back to where he started. His first junior team was the Hull Olympiques, who played across the Ottawa River. MacLean played 10 seasons in the N.H.L., mostly with the Winnipeg Jets. After posing for a team photo Thursday, Jason Spezza, a center who has been with the Senators for nine seasons, credited MacLean's coaching for making the team cohesive and competitive. "We have real good chemistry and I think we have good structure as a team," Spezza said. His coming in has probably been the biggest change this year. Although MacLean generally looks composed behind the bench, Spezza said that his style did not lack emotion or fire. "He's a real sarcastic guy, he's confrontational, he runs the full gamut of emotions as a coach," Spezza said. As a player you like that. I think that shows he played the game for a long time. Every once in a while, you like a little bit of confrontation with the coach, and every once in a while, you need a pat on the back. After Wednesday's 3-2 win, MacLean emphasized that the Senators remained a work in progress. "We've talked all year long about this being a growing year and building a foundation for a team to win," he said. The work we did in the regular season was real good. But the work we're doing right now is huge for our group, and I think we're really growing at a larger rate. On Wednesday, MacLean said that the Senators "didn't have any expectations" when this season began. But Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said that he never underestimated them. "They're a dangerous team," he said. They keep coming.