OTTAWA -- Johan Franzen has no explanation for his success in Ottawa, but cant deny he definitely enjoys playing in the nations capital. The Detroit Red Wings winger was at his best once again scoring three goals in a 6-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Thursday night. Franzen, who returned to the Red Wings lineup Wednesday after playing just one of the past 24 games due to a concussion, has previously enjoyed success against the Senators. In February 2011, Franzen scored five goals against the Senators. "I like playing here," said Franzen. "We have Erik Karlsson on the other side and we grew up in the same little town so its always fun to play him. Its something special every time. Im just happy to keep him from the scoreboard. Its always fun to play him." Detroit coach Mike Babcock is pleased to see Franzen having success. "Hes an important player for us," said Babcock. "He has the ability, he has the touch. Lots of guys play real hard and cant score (Franzen) can score." It appears he also has the ability to get under his opponents skin. Ottawas Chris Neil went after Franzen late in the game and while nothing came of it Franzen was less than impressed. "He tried to hit me and he couldnt move me so I think he got a little upset," said Franzen. "I have no clue. He usually shows up when the game is over and tries to be the hero. He puts his cape on and goes and flies out there. I dont know." Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar also scored for Detroit. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 37 shots. With the win the Red Wings (28-20-12) have a five-point lead over the Senators (26-23-11) for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. "Coming back from the break and you start 2-0 its way better than the opposite way," said Babcock. "We know were in a battle for our playoff life. We understand that so getting off to a good start is imperative." The Senators had little explanation for their performance. "Its an extremely disappointing loss," said Ottawa captain Jason Spezza. "We knew that it was a very important game for us and to lose it by that score is obviously not what we were looking for." Bobby Ryan scored the lone goal for the Senators, who were playing their first game since the Olympic break. Robin Lehner allowed six goals on 15 shots before Andrew Hammond made his NHL debut, stopping all nine shots he faced. Things fell apart for the Senators in a nine-minute span in the first period. Ryan had a goal called back after it was ruled that he kicked it in and then the Senators leading goal scorer missed two great chances on the power play. Things began to unravel after the Red Wings scored on consecutive shots. Ottawas Cody Ceci gave the puck up deep in the Senators end as he made a no-look behind-the-back pass that landed right on the stick of Sheahan who ripped a shot past Lehner. Just 29 seconds later Franzen scored his first as he was left all alone to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. Franzen then made it 3-0 with a power-play goal as once again he was left alone, this time on the opposite side of the ice. Following the game Lehner could not hide his disappointment. "They got a few goals pretty fast and then it snowballed," said Lehner. "I think weve all got to do better in our zone and Ive got to do better. It was one of the most toughest games Ive played personally, but its over now. Theres not much to say." Detroit made it 4-0 on a delayed penalty call with two minutes remaining in the period. Niklas Kronwall, who finished with three assists, had a shot from just inside the blue-line deflected and ended up on Jurcos stick, who roofed it over Lehner. The 18,931 on hand at Canadian Tire Centre were so disappointed they booed the home team off the ice. Senators coach Paul MacLean had few words to explain his teams performance. "We played a lot better than the score maybe indicated, but the score is what it is and you cant change that," said MacLean. When asked who was the best player MacLean couldnt help but say "Johan Franzen I think. I think were all tied for the worst." Franzen completed his hat trick early in the second period. Ryan finally got the Senators on board at the four-minute mark of the second, but any celebration was short-lived as Detroit made it 6-1 as Tatar beat Lehner from in close. That marked the end of Lehners appearance, opening the door for Hammond to make his first NHL appearance. Craig Anderson was unavailable due to the birth of his second child. Despite the surprise appearance Hammond held his own and made a number of big saves. "Not letting anything in was a good start," said Hammond. "Any kid from Canada growing up playing hockey its their dream to play in the NHL and its pretty special for me to be one of those guys thats lucky enough now to say Ive played in the NHL. Its very special." This was the fourth and final meeting between the teams as they split the season series. Notes: D Patrick Wiercioch, D Joe Corvo and LW Matt Kassian were a healthy scratch for the Senatorsa RW Patrick Eaves, RW Todd Bertuzzi and RW Daniel Cleary were a healthy scratch for the Red Wingsa A number of Canadian Olympians were recognized prior to the game including Detroit head coach Mike Babcock and General Manager Ken Holland. Thursdays game marked Daniel Alfredssons second appearance at Canadian Tire Centre since signing with the Red Wings last summer. Tigers Jerseys 2020 . Not sure yet. #livetweetingthegreatuntangle — Strombone (@strombone1) April 17, 2014 Stage three, coping: I feel like I could use a cigarette or something. Wholesale Tigers Jerseys .com) - Maria Sharapova reached her 10th career grand slam final after beating Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets at the Australian Open on Thursday. https://www.cheaptigers.com/.C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. Detroit Tigers Shirts . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Cheap Tigers Jerseys . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Its over. Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds as the New York Knicks snapped their franchise-record 16-game losing streak following a 99-92 victory over the Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. The Pelicans trimmed a 15-point first half deficit to a point with under two minutes left when Tyreke Evans connected on a runner in the paint. Omer Asik was called for a foul with less than a second on the shot clock a bit later and with the time winding down again, Anthony found a wide open Jose Calderon in the right corner. Calderon, who had been 1-of-9 at that point, nailed the 3-pointer to stake the Knicks to a 96-92 advantage with 32.7 seconds left. Ryan Anderson was off on a right corner triple at the other end and Anthony sealed the outcome by making 3-of-4 from the foul line down the stretch. Langston Galloway netted 21 points and Amare Stoudemire added 14 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Knicks, who hadnt won since Dec. 12 against the Boston Celtics. We didnt really talk about how many games we had lost, Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. We had to act as if we expected this at some point. Obviously we enjoy it ... it feels good to win. They turned the ball over just four times. New Orleans was not only without Daviis for a third straight game due to a left toe sprain, Jrue Holiday also missed his third consecutive contest due to right ankle imflammation.dddddddddddd Evans finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Asik added 11 points and 17 boards for New Orleans, which has dropped five of its last eight games. They had a great game, they played well. They controlled the tempo, Anderson said of the Knicks. New Orleans early 5-4 edge was its last lead of the game, but the Knicks went on a 16-4 run to pull ahead. Anthony posted 10 points during the surge and a Lance Thomas hook shot gave the Knicks a 20-9 margin. They were up 22-16 following a quarter of play and increased the spread to 53-38 after Galloway knocked down a pair of treys in the waning moments of the first half. The Knicks took a 53-41 cushion into the break and 78-65 advantage into the fourth. Evans concluded an 8-2 Pelicans spurt with a layup to whittle the gap to 91-88 with 3:13 to play. Game Notes The Knicks had lost the last nine games by an average of 19.2 points ... New Orleans has dropped seven of its last nine contests on the road ... The Pelicans held a 50-34 rebounding and 46-32 points in the paint advantage ... Jason Smith had 12 points and six assists for New York. ' ' '