Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson was just glad to be back around his teammates.
Anderson made his first start in 69 days and turned aside 33 shots the as the Ottawa Senators blanked the New York Islanders 3-0 on Saturday. Anderson left the club in early December to be with his wife Nicholle, who is battling cancer, and made his return to practice last week.
“It felt great. Got two points, got the win,” said Anderson. “I think it was an exciting day for myself to get back in the net and just be there for the guys and feel that camaraderie.”
The shutout was the fourth of the season in for Anderson in just 20 starts and the eighth of the season for the Senators. The win was the second straight for Ottawa.
“I got a little luck and we got a little luck at the other end,” Anderson said. “It’s one of those nights where fate was in our favour.”
Mark Stone, Zack Smith and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators (29-18-6).
Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for the Islanders (24-19-10) in his eighth start in the past nine games. It was just the second regulation loss for the Islanders in their past 12 games.
“You have games like that but give credit to their goaltender. We probably could have done a better job getting more pucks toward the net but I think there’s a lot of things that we liked about our game,” Islanders forward Andrew Ladd explained.
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