Detroit @ Ottawa preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2020 ) Ottawa 2, Detroit 3

Uplifting moments have been few and far between for the Ottawa Senators, who saw Bobby Ryan become emotional on the bench Thursday after recording a hat trick in his first home game since returning from the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. The Senators look to feed off that momentum on Saturday when they host the reeling Detroit Red Wings.

"It's been a long time since I've done that," Ryan said after posting his fifth career hat trick -- and first since Dec. 29, 2014 -- to power Ottawa to a 5-2 victory over Vancouver. "I don't know what I was expecting tonight. I was just kind of hoping to take a step forward within my individual game." The 32-year-old Ryan's large step was a welcome one for the Senators, who had dropped 31 of their previous 41 games (10-20-11). That mark seems like a walk on the beach compared to the current plight of the NHL-worst Red Wings, who already have been eliminated from postseason contention for the fourth straight season after qualifying for the playoffs on 25 consecutive occasions. "I don't know what it is, but when things go wrong for us, they are catastrophic and we can't come back from it," Dylan Larkin said after Detroit fell for the 18th time in 21 games (3-17-1) following a 7-1 shellacking by Minnesota on Thursday.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Detroit, Sportsnet1, TVAS2

ABOUT THE RED WINGS (15-47-4): The lone bright spot for Detroit on Thursday came from Anthony Mantha, who scored on a breakaway in the second period for his eighth point (two goals, six assists) in nine contests since returning from a 20-game absence due to broken ribs and a punctured lung. The 25-year-old has a team third-best 14 goals on the season, including one late in the third period of a 4-3 setback to Ottawa on Nov. 19. Tyler Bertuzzi, who leads the club with 18 goals, has tallied twice and added an assist in three meetings with the Senators this season.

ABOUT THE SENATORS (22-31-12): Belleville call-up Josh Norris held his own during his second NHL game, winning 10 of 14 draws and logging 17:38 of ice time while paired on a line with Ryan and Brady Tkachuk. "You have to continue to work hard and get better," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said of the team's final 17 games of the season. "There are a lot of guys in that room that are trying out for this team next year. ... How you play, how you train, what you are as a teammate ... that's going to tell us a lot about guys if they want to be here next year or not." Tkachuk, who has just three goals since the All-Star break, tallied twice in the season series versus Detroit.

OVERTIME

1. Larkin has boosted his team-leading totals in assists (29) and points (46) with four and six, respectively, over his last five games.

2. Ottawa C Chris Tierney has collected six assists in his last nine games.

3. Detroit has been outscored by a 19-5 margin during its current four-game losing streak.

PREDICTION: Red Wings 3, Senators 2