OTTAWA, Ontario — The Islanders’ big playoff push was derailed for one game.
Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson made his first start in 69 days and turned aside 33 shots as the Senators beat the Islanders 3-0 on Saturday. Anderson left the club in early December to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is battling cancer, and returned to practice last week.
“It felt great. Got two points, got the win,” he said. “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.”
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 said.
The Islanders had two power plays in the second period and outshot the Senators 14-5 in the middle frame, but they were unable to get anything past Anderson.
The shutout was the fourth of the season for Anderson in just 20 games and the eighth of the season for the Senators. Mike Condon has the other four. The win is the second straight for the Senators.
“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 favor.”
Mark Stone, Zack Smith and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators (29-18-6), who now have six goals in their past two games after being outscored 10-0 in the two previous games.
Paguea gave credit to Anderson.
“He’s been there for us since the beginning and he’s a competitor. He’s there every shift and he gave us the big saves when we needed them and we tried to make life easier for him out there,” Paguea said. “When your goaltender comes back after a long break, you want to go and be solid in front of him. I think the guys did that.”
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