Austin Watson had a goal and an assist, and Anton Forsberg made 24 saves for the Senators (27-40-6), who had lost three in a row.
"I grew up here, and my favorite players were guys like Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan and [Nicklas] Lidstrom," said Watson, who was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "They inspired me to want to play in this league, so it is really cool to come back here and be able to score."
It was Ottawa's third win against Detroit in 12 days.
"Everyone knows both of these teams are a long way from a finished product, but you can also see how much young talent was on the ice tonight," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "I think, in a few years, you could easily see these two franchises having the same kind of battles that the [Tampa Bay] Lightning and [Florida] Panthers are having now."