PITTSBURGH -- Ottawa offered no answer for the surging Penguins. The way Pittsburgh is playing now, with offence up and down a lineup that isnt being dominated by stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Senators couldnt help but wonder if any team does. James Neal scored a hat trick as the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the third time in six seasons by closing out the Senators 6-2 in Game 5 on Friday night. Just as Ottawas franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson foresaw following a 7-3 Penguins rout in Game 4, the Senators werent good enough to rally from a 3-1 deficit for the first time in six attempts in franchise history. After winning Game 3 on home ice with a comeback that started in the final minute of regulation, they were outscored 13-5 in two runaway Penguins victories. "They were better than us in each and every game and I was just trying to put the pressure on them," said Alfredsson, who acknowledged after Pittsburghs 7-3 win in Game 4 it would be extremely difficult for the Senators to rally. "I still believe that we could do it, if we win one game I think that comment helps us, and thats where it came from." The 40-year-old Alfredsson, an Ottawa fixture since 1995, said he will decide at some point in the off-season whether he will return for a 17th NHL season. "Its really tough with four young kids at home," Alfredsson said. "Thats kind of where I struggle personally. Ill talk to (the Senators) and see what they think. I think I still can play, I really enjoyed the playoffs and had a lot of fun with it. Ill take a little bit of time, I dont want to make a quick decision." Coach Paul MacLean said of Alfredsson and defenceman Sergei Gonchar: "My expectations are they will come back until they tell me." After beating Montreal the opening round following an injury-filled season in which they surprisingly made the playoffs, the Senators were good enough to win only once in a series decided by Pittsburghs offensive execution and a scoring depth that ranges far beyond Crosby and Malkin. Brenden Morrow, Kris Letang and Malkin each added singles for the Penguins on Friday, while Neals goals gave him five in the final two games of the series. "We got to our game a lot. The depth we had showed," Crosby said. "Different guys chipping in, the whole way through we didnt have many lulls where we lost momentum at any point." The Penguins were aided by the solid goaltending of Tomas Vokoun, who made 29 saves and doesnt appear willing to give back his job to former Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury any time soon. Pittsburgh, which led the conference during the regular season, will play either the Boston Bruins or New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals. Boston leads 3-1 in a series that resumes Saturday night. "They have a good team and theyre really pushing for it," Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson said. "Right now, theyre playing the way they want to. The first two games (in Pittsburgh) we werent prepared for what they were bringing, they played really well and we definitely didnt play the way wanted to. ... They came out and started stronger the last game (Game 4) and this game as well." For the Senators, who generated only goals by Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris, it was yet another disappointing conclusion to a season. They have failed to advance past the conference semifinals since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2007, but they advanced one round further than they did a season ago. "A lot of things have to go right for you to get past each round," goalie Craig Anderson said. "The deeper you go, the harder it gets. The better teams keep advancing and the opponents get tougher and tougher. We have to continue to get better. If youre not growing youre dying, and we need to keep growing." Much like the series, Game 5 didnt take long to decide as the Penguins overwhelmed Anderson with waves of scoring attempts -- even when Crosby, who had just an assist, and Malkin werent on the ice. "We didnt respond to start Game 4 and we didnt respond after losing Game 4," Turris said. Malkin did get Pittsburghs fourth goal, his fourth of the playoffs, on a short breakaway created by the turnover Neal generated at mid-ice in the final minute of a second period in which Pittsburgh scored three times. Neal added his second of the game unassisted at 11:07 of the third, and his sixth of the playoffs and third of the game with 2:39 remaining. "Everything hes done, especially the last couple games, hes created a lot of chances for himself," Crosby said of Neal. "That whole line (Jarome Iginla-Malkin-Neal) has been pretty hard to stop. Theyre not fun to play against." The Penguins are averaging 4.27 goals a game through 11 playoff games, the best such pace of any team since the 1992-93 Penguins averaged 4.17 goals per game. Pittsburgh has also scored at least four goals in nine of 11 playoff games, only once failing to score fewer than three, a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 3 in Ottawa. But they recovered from that lone defeat in the series to easily win the final two games, including the Game 4 rout in which MacLeans post-game news conference lasted only 13 seconds and Alfredsson couldnt generate much optimism for a series comeback in a quiet dressing room. "I think weve been confident the whole series against Ottawa," Letang said. "We knew that playing a north-south (fast-paced) series would get us rewarded." In Game 5, the Penguins never trailed after Morrow, who missed Wednesday with an undisclosed injury, beat Anderson down low off a pass by Mark Eaton 6:25 into the first. The play was started after longtime Senators antagonist Matt Cooke beat Jared Cowen to the puck and threaded a pass to Eaton. The goal was reviewed briefly before it was determined Morrow did not use a distinct kicking motion while directing the puck by Anderson. Neal made it 2-0 on a power play created by Jean-Gabriel Pageaus interference penalty nearly 7 1/2 minutes into the second, and Letang pushed it to 3-0 with a 4-on-4 goal just over five minutes later. Tyler Kennedy skated the puck out of his own zone before sending a pass to the left circle to Letang, who cut into the high slot to beat Anderson with a hard wrist shot. Michalek, reunited on a line with Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, finally got Ottawa on the board late in the second period. But the Senators didnt have nearly enough -- not in this game and not in the series. "They (the Penguins) really showed the step you have to take to continue to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs," MacLean said. 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Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. College football has the uncanny ability to surprise us every weekend and yet at the same time provide a little sense of déjà vu.For those who have been paying close attention to the College Football Playoff the past two years, some parallels can be drawn early. Take a look at how some previous playoff storylines have the potential to resurface under the guise of different programs:2016 Clemson is 2014 FSU: Close wins? A few scares? Dont say it ... not game control ...Then: The undefeated 2014 Seminoles never reached the No. 1 spot in the committees top four in large part because they won in unconvincing fashion. Everybody says game control, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said after beating Boston College 20-17. Thats something made up. As a coach, you talk about one thing: Finish. Get it done. This team wins in every way, shape and form you can win. It was good enough for No. 3.Now: Clemson has beaten its past two unranked opponents -- Auburn and Troy -- by six points each. The Tigers dropped three spots to No. 5 in this weeks AP poll. So far, the ACCs other Atlantic Division heavyweight is following the Noles 2014 blueprint: finding a way to win the close ones, albeit in unimpressive fashion. I dont know about other people, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said last week, but I think that with our schedule, if we win every game by one point and were 13-0, I think well be just fine. Fine, yes. No. 1? Probably not.2016 San Diego State is 2014 Marshall: Undefeated? Yep. But who did you play?Then: Marshall was 10-0, ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, and still unranked by the selection committee because of its weak strength of schedule. It wasnt until Week 14 that the undefeated Herd snuck into the committees top 25 at No. 24 -- right behind a two-loss Boise State team.Now: The Aztecs are 2-0 and coming off an impressive win over Cal, but theres not one ranked opponent currently on their schedule. ESPNs Football Power Index ranks San Diego States strength of schedule No. 118. Marshall entered bowl season ranked No. 127 of 128. The highest-ranked champion from a Group of 5 conference is guaranteed a spot in a New Years Six bowl, so the Aztecs are a team to keep an eye on in that regard, but they could face a similar snub from the committee -- even if undefeated.2016 Oklahoma is 2014 Ohio State or 2015 Stanford: Theyre done. Toast. Kaput.Then: The Buckeyes at home too an unimpressive Virginia Tech team in Week 2 and were instantly discredited in the CFP race.dddddddddddd Instead, they ran the table with their third-string quarterback, won the Big Ten title and earned a spot in the committees final top four of the season. Stanford was also written off last year after its season-opening loss to Northwestern, but was still in the conversation even as a two-loss Pac-12 champ.Now: Oklahoma is trying to rebound from its season-opening loss to Houston (granted, not nearly as bad of a loss as the one the Buckeyes suffered to the Hokies), but OU and the entire Big 12 have practically been discounted. (Psst, its just one loss). The Sooners now likely have to run the table -- a tall task with Ohio State looming this Saturday -- but the Buckeyes will remind you, it can be done.2016 Bama is potential 2015 and 2014 Bama: Rewind, repeat ... rewind, repeat ...Then: In 2014, Alabama finished No. 1 in the selection committees ranking, in spite of losing to Ole Miss. In 2015, Alabama finished No. 2 in the committees final ranking, in spite of losing to Ole Miss.Now: Here comes Ole Miss. Nick Saban certainly doesnt want to lose three straight to the Rebels, but as far as the playoff goes, it clearly doesnt matter if he does.2016 Pitt is potential 2015 Iowa: Just how good are they?Then: The Hawkeyes cruised through the weaker Big Ten West division, and ran the table during the regular season, making it impossible for the selection committee to leave an undefeated Power 5 team out of its top four. Iowa had faced just two ranked teams during the regular season -- Wisconsin and Northwestern -- and it was hard to tell just how good they were until the title game (a 16-13 loss to Michigan State) and Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual (a 45-16 Stanford rout).Now: Like Iowa, Pitt hails from the weaker of its divisions, and it currently has only two ranked opponents on its schedule (No. 25 Miami and No. 5 Clemson). If Pitt can survive upcoming back-to-back road games against Oklahoma State and North Carolina, it could be 8-0 heading into the Miami game. The difference here is that Pitt could wind up playing both FSU and Clemson, but the Panthers could be deceivingly good heading into November. ' ' '