By DON BRENNAN  

Petr Schastlivy says his time has come.  

If that's true, it's good news for the Senators -- until the off-season, at  least.  

"It's an important year for me," Schastlivy, another Russia-born client of Mark Gandler's, said after starring in yesterday's first scrimmage of training camp. "It's the last year of my contract."  

The Senators will battle on that bridge when they get to it. Now, they need as much as anything else for this winger to scratch the surface of his potential.  

Schastlivy, a fourth-round pick in 1998, has been something of an enigma thus far in his career. His talents include a soft touch around the net, strong shot and fast stride.  

He is a goal-scorer, pure and simple. Exactly what the Senators need, especially if they are to start the season without Daniel Alfredsson and/or Marian Hossa.  

But he's also having difficulty adjusting to North America. After more than two years, Schastlivy's English is only slightly better than Jacques Martin's ability to speak Russian.  

And to this point, it seems, he hasn't grasped the fact he must work hard all the time to succeed in the NHL. He played 13 games for Ottawa in 1999-00, scoring two goals and five assists. The rest of the season he spent in Grand Rapids. Last year, he was recalled twice, for a total of 17 games. He scored three goals and two assists, but did not do enough to stick.  

Martin, however, is not losing patience with Schastlivy. Not at all.  

"The first year with us he had an excellent camp, but he was not quite ready for the NHL," he said. "Last year, he didn't meet our expectations at camp, so we sent him back down with directions to improve on 
certain elements and he had a fairly good season.  

"He caught my eye (yesterday) with the way he shot the puck and beat defenders.  

"There's nothing unusual with taking one, two or three years to develop. The best example I can think of is (New Jersey's) Patrick Elias, who spent the majority of two years in Albany before turning into one of the league's best scorers.  

"I'm not saying Schastlivy is another Elias, but too often people expect juniors or Europeans to step right in, when in a lot of cases a couple of years in the minors is better for them in the long run."  

LEADS WAY  

Yesterday, Schastlivy played on a line with Martin Havlat and Todd White and had a goal and an assist for the Whites in a 4-2 win over the Blacks. Havlat also had a goal and an assist, while Julien Vauclair and Chris Bala rounded out the Whites' scoring. Andre Roy and Shawn  McEachern scored for the Blacks.  

"I had very good partners, Havlat and White," said Schastlivy, who spent a week in Switzerland last month working out with fellow Russians, including Alexei Yashin.  

He acknowledged having a "very bad camp" last year and said he "feels better" this time around. Asked what he has to do to improve his game, Schastlivy said: "Score goals."  

The Senators need the production he can provide. They can deal with the contractual ramifications later.