Ottawa ? The Senators and Devils will resolve their differences in a most fitting way: a seventh game for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.

Ottawa and New Jersey raced each other all season to finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference. When the Devils took a 3-1 series lead, the Senators rallied, forcing Game 7 tonight in Ottawa — the reward the Senators received for finishing five points better in the regular season.

“Why we got the Presidents’ Cup is for tomorrow night,” Senators coach Jacques Martin said Thursday. “That’s the key. You want to have that seventh game here. We have the luxury of having our fans, the noise, the support, the energy. I think that’s a big, big thing.”

These playoffs have already been big for an Ottawa team that has overcome bankruptcy and its small market, while also erasing the dreadful memories of postseason disappointments.

The Senators, in their 11th year of existence, are making their deepest postseason run. But their last two victories, including Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime thriller, ended an 0-6 streak in games they faced elimination.

And Ottawa accomplished it against the playoff-savvy Devils, who have uncharacteristically stalled in attempting to reach the finals for the third time in four years.

“It’s something that’s developed, something that’s been cultivated,” Martin said of his team’s newfound maturity. “I’ve said it before, I think this team is special.”

The Devils believe they’ve got something special, too, not giving the Senators any edge.

“We’re not disappointed at all,” New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur said. “To be in a Game 7 to decide if we are going to go to the Stanley Cup or not, we’ll take it any time against any team.”

Devils coach Pat Burns put the pressure on Ottawa.

“It’s not us anymore,” Burns said. “They are going back home and they have to win at home.”

New Jersey center Joe Nieuwendyk is helped to his feet by a team employee after the Devils lost to Ottawa in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Nieuwendyk is expected to play in tonight's Game 7 in Ottawa.

The survivor will host well-rested Anaheim in the opener of the finals Tuesday night.

Devils center Joe Nieuwendyk, after requiring assistance to leave the ice in Game 6, said he felt fine and expected to play.

“I’m ready to go,” Nieuwendyk said as the team arrived at its hotel in Aylmer, Quebec. “It’s amazing what a day’s rest can do.”

Nieuwendyk was hurt late in overtime when he fell in the corner. He was seen limping into the team’s locker room about 25 minutes after the game ended, seeming to favor his left leg.

Burns said he didn’t anticipate making any lineup changes, and expected Nieuwendyk to play.

“This is playoff time, you bite your lip and you take it, whatever it is,” Burns said. “Everybody has bumps and bruises.”

History doesn’t provide either the Senators or Devils an edge.

Ottawa has an 0-2 Game 7 record, but both losses came on the road. New Jersey is 4-6 in seventh games, and 2-5 on the road.

The Senators are attempting to become the 20th team in NHL history — and fourth this postseason — to overcome a 3-1 deficit. That includes the 1975 New York Islanders and 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the only teams to rally from 3-0 holes.

Coincidentally, New Jersey was the only team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a conference finals series, against Philadelphia in 2000.