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OTTAWA -- Fresh off their first-round demolition of the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators had a familiar face back in the fold on Sunday. No. 1 centre Jason Spezza practised with his teammates for the first time since undergoing back surgery for a herniated disc on Feb. 1 and says it was nice to take another step in his recovery. "Its been a long process and a long season for me," Spezza said. "It felt good to join the team again and get some reps in. It may not seem like it and I may not play this year, but for me its a small victory." Despite speculation that Spezza could be done for the season, the fact the 29-year-old took part in a full practice was encouraging. Spezza, who had been skating on his own before joining the Ottawas AHL callups for more training, says he had some "ups and downs" over the course of his recovery but made improvements over the last few weeks that allowed him to take part in a regular practice. Whether or not he plays this season depends on how is body reacts. The Senators will take on the No. 1 seed Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs after Ottawa disposed of second-ranked Montreal in five games. "I always felt there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel and when that is I dont know," Spezza said. "But Im going to keep pushing towards getting better so I can try to play." The Senators top centre played in just five games this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists, before being forced to have surgery. Spezza last played on Jan. 27, coincidentally against the Penguins. Its unclear whether Spezza will travel to Pittsburgh, but Senators coach Paul MacLean doesnt seem to have much hope he will play in the first two games of the series. "Hes a long ways away," said MacLean after practice. On Saturday, the coach said he would love nothing more than to have Spezza back in the lineup, but if and when that happens he has to be able to slide right in. "Thats the important factor for me ... Jason has to be up to speed to where the team is playing," said MacLean. "And the treadmill goes pretty fast in the second round of the playoffs." Spezza understands MacLeans thinking and says in no way does he want to be a hindrance to the team. "As a player you have to be confident. The only way youre going to have any success if you come back to play is to be confident. I have to make sure I have confidence in myself that Im going to help the team," he said. "The team has played real well and done real good things and the only way that I want to come back is if I feel I can help the team." Thats not to say Spezza wouldnt love to be a part of this second-round series. "I wish I could play next game," he said. "Its all going to be how I respond. I have to push myself. Thats why were really going to try to push forward here the next three days and it might tell me its not time to play or it might respond real well. "Id be lying if I tried to give you a straight answer on when I thought I would play." Teammates were thrilled to see Spezza back on the ice and while they are tempering expectations, the Senators know he would bring a significant contribution to the lineup. "You dont want to get excited too early, but at the same time if hes going to come back hes going to help us a lot," defenceman Sergei Gonchar said. "Overall he can help us creating offence." The Penguins offer a different challenge than the Canadiens, but the Senators feel confident they match up well. "We know were in tough against a very good team," captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "But we definitely dont think its a task thats impossible." The series has added intrigue considering it was the skate of Pittsburghs Matt Cooke that led to Erik Karlsson missing most of the regular season with a partially severed Achilles tendon. "Whatever happened, happened and Im back playing and Im happy," Karlsson said. "Its not something Im thinking about and Im sure hes not thinking about it either." Both Karlsson and MacLean say the incident wont be a distraction for the teams other than creating discussion for the next few days. "We have to go out and play our best game if we want to beat Pittsburgh," Karlsson said. "Theyve had an unbelievable season so far and they have a great team and weve got to play our best to even have a chance. "If we can find some consistency for 60 minutes in all the games we play I think well have a good chance." The Senators watched with interest as the New York Islanders won two games against the Penguins and came close to forcing a Game 7. "Were going to study it, especially the ones (the Islanders) won and figure out if they did anything that was surprising or different," MacLean said. "I think we have a good handle on Pittsburgh and how they like to play and its just a matter of us sticking to it." Notes: Pittsburgh was 2-0-1 against Ottawa in the regular season. ... Senators forward Milan Michalek was not on the ice at practice, but MacLean says it was just a maintenance day. Defenceman Patrick Wiercioch (lower-body injury) isnt expected to be ready for the start of the series. Nmd r1 Herren Günstig . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Adidas Nmd Outlet . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. http://www.nmdschuhesale.de/ultra-boost-schuhe-deutschland/ultra-boost-4-0-outlet.html .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Nmd Schuhe Sale Deutschland . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Adidas Nmd Grosshandel Deutschland . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Jordy Nelson wont be on a snap count during his first game action in nearly 13 months, but if he goes to the sideline for a break, the Packers receiver doesnt expect that it will be because of his knee.A day after coach Mike McCarthy said Nelson would be full bore for Sundays opener at Jacksonville, Nelson said he would be ready for anything.Except maybe the heat and a bunch of deep routes.If I end up for some reason getting three deep balls in a row, yeah Im coming out, Nelson said Tuesday. Ill come out at the end of the year on that, too. Things happen throughout a game that, you know, I could run a bunch of short routes all the way down the field and never have a problem. Its just going to be how the game flows, but I think everyone, throughout the preseason, we could see guys running deep ball after deep ball. You know you can just get stuck on certain things that, it happens that way. So you take a play or two off and go back in.He appeared to practice without limitations on Tuesday during the portion that was open to the media. The Packers dont have to submit an injury report until after Wednesdays practice, which means they did not have to list his participation level on Tuesday. Nelson played 92.1 percent of the Packers offensive snaps in 2014, when he last played in a regular-season game. He missed all of last season after he tore the ACL in his right knee in a preseason game on Aug. 23, 2015, and he didnt take a single snap of game action this preseason.Were not going to put a number on it, Nelson said. Weve discussed it.dddddddddddd I think the situation of being in Jacksonville, well play it snap-by-snap to be honest with you. Theres a lot of things that could happen differently. But seeing how the possessions are taken, seeing what the weather is like, I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of guys are rotating to stay fresh. But no, I feel great. Practice today felt great. Ive done a lot on my own to get ready. So I dont think it will honestly be an issue.Nelson said he wasnt sure what to expect from the Jaguars defense, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers concurred.It depends on how healthy they think he is, Rodgers said. But I think were all looking forward to the sight of No. 87 back on the field and healthy.Nelson barely practiced during training camp; he wasnt cleared for full team drills (11-on-11) until Aug. 29 and even then he was limited. Nelson traveled to the final two preseason road games and actually put on full pads to go through pregame warm-ups but did not play.Going through camp and everything would have prepared me better, Nelson said. But thats not the situation Ive been put in. I was in the meetings, I was at practice, I ran routes, so I dont feel like Im behind. Would it have been better going through camp? Yeah, probably. It wouldnt have hurt. But Im not worried about it. I dont think anyone in this locker room is worried about it. I dont think anybody in this building is worried about it. ' ' '