We’re not used to being on the other side of these types of games.
Tonight’s game was only a warmup for the real Claude Giroux Homecoming that will happen a week from today, when the Ottawa Senators will head down to Philadelphia and Giroux will play in his old arena for the first time since the trade that sent him to Florida. Still, it was hard to ignore the narratives in this game. Giroux shocked a lot of people when he chose to spend the last few years of his prime in Ottawa, on a team that has playoff aspirations but hasn’t done much to prove that they can win.