Anderson gets outdoor call for Sens

STARTING GOALIE

BRUCE GARRIOCH OTTAWA — Guy Boucher has made the right call in the net for the outdoor game.

It wasn’t any surprise, but the Ottawa Senators coach confirmed Friday he’ll start goaltender Craig Anderson against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Lansdowne Park in the NHL 100 Classic.

While the Senators have been playing a little bit of a game of musical goalies in the last month as they tried to get themselves back on track, Boucher has plenty of respect for the club’s top goalie. That’s why Anderson will make his second straight start after halting a sevengame losing skid against the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

Back in 2014, when the Senators participated in the Heritage Classic against the Canucks at BC Place Stadium, coach John Tortorella — who was behind the Vancouver bench at the time — decided to start backup Eddie Lack over Roberto Luongo and the result was a 4-2 victory by the Senators.

Not only was there plenty of controversy around the decision, Luongo wasn’t happy at the time and that was the beginning of the end for his days in Vancouver. It may seem like an easy decision to make, but if Mike Condon had been given the call against the Habs, then Boucher would have set off fireworks in the media.

“That was the plan all along. I never thought otherwise,” Boucher said Friday. “Last week, we went exactly as we wanted by following the plan we wanted to follow. To have done something differently, we would have needed something different from (Condon) to change something.”

Anderson made it an easy decision with a solid performance against the Rangers in which he gave his team a chance to win.

“I saw him ... I saw him. That’s what we’re looking for and that’s what we got,” said Boucher. “If he’s himself, we’re a different team that’s for sure. He played great. We rely on him. He’s our No. 1 goalie. Like I said, it was just a matter of time before he gave us one of those games and he did.

“We’re looking forward to some more for sure.”

Anderson said he’s excited about the opportunity.

“Any time things aren’t going the way you want them to, it’s going to be tough on you mentally,” Anderson said. “The longer you play and the more you play, you learn from those experiences. I’ve been through it before and you learn from your mistakes and the way you’ve handled things in the past so you can be better at it.”