On a night where all the talk was understandably about the former face of the franchise in Daniel Alfredsson, it was the new Captain and the big offseason addition that stole the show.
Jason Spezza and Bobby Ryan each scored a pair, Eric Gryba and Jared Cowen each scored one as the Senators cruised to a dominant 6-1 win over Alfie and the Detroit Red Wings.
The Senators got off to a much better start in this one and it made a difference throughout as they were finally able to dictate the pace of play rather than “chasing the game” as MacLean as said a couple times in the early going this season.
Eric Gryba started the scoring for Ottawa, converting a nifty feed from the recently recalled Mika Zibanejad. Jason Spezza and Bobby Ryan would both add power play goals to give the Senators a commanding 3-0 lead. Detroit answered back with a power play goal of their own before the first period expired but a second period goal from Jason Spezza, his 7th of the season, gave the Senators a three goal lead heading into the final frame. Jared Cowen and Bobby Ryan each added goals in the third to make it 6-1, locking up a convincing win in Motown.
It really would have been difficult to draw up a much better outcome than this.
Not only did the Senators beat the Wings in convincing fashion with Spezza and Ryan leading the way, but Alfie was darn near invisible. It was a statement game for Ottawa and almost looked like a game Alfie just wanted to get out of the way. Daniel Alfredsson has moved on and so have the Ottawa Senators. There is still the next hurdle to get over when Alfie plays his first game in Ottawa but really, that should be a celebration of his time here more than anything.
The Senators now return home for a tough weekend that will see them play host to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night and the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. Plenty of positives to build off after this one.
