After the emotional down of seeing longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson refusing to sign a new contract with Ottawa and leave for Detroit and sign with the Red Wings in who he thought had more chances of winning the Stanley Cup, this result could not have been any more justice to the Sens fans. Jason Spezza was tasked with taking over for Alfredsson as captain, and newly signed Bobby Ryan with filling the void as a scoring winger. In the Senators’ first game against Alfredsson and the Detroit Red Wings, Spezza and Ryan fittingly spearheaded an impressive offensive display in a 6-1 blowout at Joe Louis Arena. The only thing that could make the win sweater is if the game had been in Ottawa.

Those performances made it easier to forget about Alfredsson. While the players & coach Paul McLean might play down the significance of facing the former face of the franchise, the results are certainly welcome. Ottawa hasn’t had a great start to the season but seem ready to make a push to make the playoffs this season as well. After 9 games played the Senators have 10 points and sit in the 8th spot of the Eastern Conference. But they have 4 wins and 5 loses, 2 of which were in OT. I seem them slowly getting more wins and racking up the points and could easily finish 5th or 6th.

Last 9 games (latest game first)

6-1 vs Detroit Red Wings (away)

1-3 vs Edmonton Oilers (home)

5-2 vs New Jersey Devils (home)

4-3 vs Phoenix Coyotes (away)

1-4 vs Anaheim Ducks (away)

2-3 vs San Jose Sharks (away)

3-4 vs Los Angeles Kings (away)

4-5 vs Toronto Maple Leafs (away)

1-0 vs Buffalo Sabres (away)