Ryan gets emotional after hat trick in return to Senators

Bobby Ryan hadn't scored a goal since Oct. 2. So on Thursday, the Ottawa Senators forward went out and got three.

And then he couldn't help but get a little emotional.
"I took the fact that I was doing this for a living for granted for a while," Ryan told Sportsnet after Ottawa's 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks. "I took everything for granted for a while. For my wife to stand by me and let me go get help, take on a lot, and for me to come back and contribute in that sense, it's just a family victory."
Ryan took an extended leave of absence from the Senators in November to enter the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, citing admitted issues with alcohol abuse.
He returned to the lineup on Wednesday in Nashville, but he broke out in his first game at Canadian Tire Centre since Nov. 15.

After his first goal, which came off a pass from defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, the crowd broke out in chants of "Bobby! Bobby!"
The same happened after his second goal, set up by a pass from behind the net by Chris Tierney. This time, Ryan scored following a nifty skate-to-stick transfer.
After the third goal, an empty-netter that completed his fifth NHL hat trick, Ryan couldn't hold back the emotions any longer.
"[I got] a little choked up," he said. "You don't seek praise for what I had to go through. I said a couple minutes ago that the Ottawa community is just incredible. I never doubted that they would be behind me. They never let me down, so it's nice that we all got to enjoy this night as a group.
"They supported me and, I guess, to contribute, you can't write that, right? The way that went, it was just an incredible evening. Thank you to all of them."