The Ottawa Senators are determined to shake their reputation as playoff failures.

Two nights after a third-period collapse at home revived talk about past postseason disappointments, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference regained control of its first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an impressive 8-4 victory last night.

Ottawa leads 2-1 in the best-of-seven matchup. Game 4 is Thursday night in Tampa.

Martin Havlat scored his third and fourth goals of the playoffs, and defenseman Wade Redden had a goal and two assists after missing Game 2 to fly to Saskatchewan to be with family following the death of his mother.

Antoine Vermette also scored twice for the Senators, who got another solid performance from goaltender Ray Emery. The rookie stopped 35 shots and again showed why Ottawa is confident it can go deep into the playoffs, even without injured goalie Dominik Hasek.

The Senators have been one of the top two seeds in the East four times since 1999, but have yet to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. They entered this series as heavy favorites after sweeping four regular-season meetings and taking 17 of 20 games from the Lightning over the past five years.

Paul Ranger scored twice and Martin St. Louis once for the Lightning, who trimmed a four-goal deficit to 5-2 on Ranger’s unassisted goal just

20 seconds into third period. But any realistic chance to make it interesting faded when Tampa Bay’s Chris Dingman gave the Senators a 7-minute power play by drawing penal ties for instigating and fighting.

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JAGR DOUBTFUL With the Rangers two losses away from a quick exit at the hands of the Devils, it appears that Jaromir Jagr and his injured right shoulder will not be able to play in Game 3, if it all. “It would have to be a miracle,” Jagr said yesterday. “But hey, I believe in miracles.”

Rangers coach Tom Renney is waiting for the word – actually two. Once Jagr tells him he can go, Renney will see if the medical staff agrees. “We have to get to the point where he thinks he could play, and I don’t think we’re at that point,” Renney said.

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CANUCKS CAN CRAWFORD Marc Crawford paid the price for failing to meet the high expectations he helped set with the Vancouver Canucks. Touted as Stanley Cup contenders in September, the Canucks fired Crawford as coach yesterday after missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

Crawford was behind the Vancouver bench for seven seasons, leading them to the Northwest Division title in 2003-04. But the Canucks finished ninth this season with a 42-32-8 record, losing six of their last eight games to fall three points behind Edmonton for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.