OTTAWA (AP) – The Ottawa Senators are delivering for their fans.

Fans at every home win in which the Senators score six or more goals get free pizza, a seemingly safe idea for the restaurant chain that negotiated the promotion. Then Ottawa reached the mark in four of its last five home games.

“I didn’t sign the deal,” said captain Daniel Alfredsson, who along with Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza stars on a Senators top line now known by monikers such as the Pizza Line or the Delivery Boys because of its scoring prowess.

A spokesman for the restaurant said about half of the fans redeem their ticket stubs for a pizza slice at participating restaurants the day after victories in which the Senators score at least six goals.

He estimates it costs the company an average of $8,500 in free pizza each time Ottawa reaches the magic six-goal mark.

“We love it,” said Pat Finelli, vice president of marketing for the Toronto-based Pizza Pizza chain.

“It’s great. They’ve got a spectacular team and they’re doing phenomenal this year.”

Senators president Roy Mlakar said it is one of the most successful promotions he has been involved with in more than 30 years in professional sports.

“When you hit Sports Illustrated, when you hit a national television audience and you see your name as often as they do, they’re not complaining,” Mlakar said of Pizza Pizza.

The promotion used to kick in when Ottawa reached five goals in a home win, but the deal was renegotiated earlier this season when the high-scoring Senators accomplished that in each of their first three games at the Corel Centre – which will be renamed Scotiabank Place on Friday.

Ottawa failed to score five goals in its next three home games, but the Senators soon adjusted to the new standard and resumed their pizza delivery service. In their next 14 home games, the Senators had six wins in which they scored at least six goals.

“I’m sure they had a great plan in the beginning,” says Senators center Bryan Smolinski, who has subbed for the injured Spezza on the top line recently and delivered the “pizza” goal twice this season. “It’s not going to happen all year.”

Considering Ottawa’s offensive abilities, that may be a bold claim. The Senators lead the NHL with 174 goals, including 93 in 20 home games. That’s an average of 4.65 goals per game.

Even still, the restaurant chain has no intention of adjusting the promotion again.

“We joke about it but we’re fine at six,” Finelli says. “That’s what we agreed on and that’s the deal.”

Finelli said he gets a thrill out of attending a Senators home game and hearing fans start to chant, “Pizza! Pizza!” once Ottawa reaches five goals. The feeling, he said, is worth all the free pizza.

Mlakar recalled the Cleveland Indians’ disastrous five-cent beer night in 1974 and an ill-fated cupcake-eating contest at halftime of a Cleveland Cavaliers game a few years before that as examples of particularly memorable promotions gone bad.

He knows a good one when he sees it and he also realizes the restaurants are getting something in return.

“Nobody goes in and just gets that,” Mlakar said. “They’re getting a soda, they’re getting more than just a slice, plus they’re going to your establishment. If they like your product, they’re going to come back again, and I think that’s where they get the win-win. It’s a brilliant promotion for them despite the fact that they take a hit on the night we score six goals.”

AP-ES-01-11-06 1758EST