ANDERSON PUTS BLUESHIRTS IN A BLUE MOOD
How many blue shirts he has in his closet, we have no clue. But Craig Anderson does own the New York Rangers.
In front of the smallest crowd (10,921) at Canadian Tire Centre this season — if not ever — Anderson once again displayed his dominance against the Blueshirts with a 27-save, 3-0 shutout on Thursday night.
In 24 career games against the Rangers, Anderson has a decent 13-7-3 record. But on Thursday he also improved on some pretty spectacular numbers otherwise — a better save percentage (. 940) and goals-against average (1.87) than he had against any other team in the NHL.
The shutout was Anderson’s first since the outdoor game at TD Place against Montreal last December. It was also the 41st of his career, matching his jersey number.
Five of those goose eggs have been thrown against the Rangers. Against no other team has he had more shutouts.
“You just kind of get up for the Original Six (teams),” said Anderson, who has also enjoyed some superlative playoff outings against the Rangers. “It’s one of those things where you don’t even realize it, but maybe a little switch goes off. It’s the New York Rangers, man.”
With Ryan Dzingel as their new left winger, Matt Duchene and rookie Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist. Magnus Paajarvi scored the winner.
Anderson, who leads the league in shots against, goals against and saves, had a quieter evening than usual. He faced only 11 shots in the first period and eight in the second. By allowing only eight in the third, the Senators tied their season low. It was also just the third time this season they’ve held the opposition to under 30 shots.
The Rangers thought they had cracked through with 12:33 left in the middle stanza, when Jesper Fast stole the puck from Mikkel Boedker near the edge of the crease.
But not so, Fast. Anderson stopped his first try, but the puck and goalie wound up in the net with a little shove from Fast. The goal was waved off when it was ruled the whistle had blown before the puck crossed the line.
The Senators are now an impressive 8-4-2 at home, but a weak 3-8-1 on the road.
“Arguably it was one of our best (games), if not our best all year,” Duchene said. “Top to bottom.”
Of Anderson’s game, Duchene added: “He has seen more rubber than the Michelin Man this year. He deserved that one for sure.”
FROM THE DOTS: Working on the last year of his contract, Duchene now has 22 points in his last 12 games. Cha ching ... Batherson was talking about Duchene’s swinging bunt in Philly after the morning skate, saying “he showed his skill level on that goal. I haven’t
seen a goal like that my whole life. That was amazing.” He also said: “Playing with him, you never know what’s going to happen out there. He can put the puck on your tape from anywhere.” Duchene did just that with a backhand pass from near the left-wing circle for Batherson’s tap-in goal, his third (along with four assists) in eight games ...
STOPS AND STARTS: Shots were 11 apiece in the first period. Anderson’s best save saw him put his left pad in front of a Lias Andersson chance from the blue paint ... Kevin Hayes barged in on Anderson a few minutes later, but had the puck slip away from him to the end boards ... During one stretch near the midway mark of the first period, TSN play-by-play ace Chris Cuthbert could be heard exclaiming: “We’re playing straight time here.” Sure enough, Henrik Lundqvist forced a whistle by smothering the puck a few
moments later . ... Colin White accepted a pass from Mark Stone and ripped a shot off the inside of the post in the second. Often, those go in.
BETWEEN PERIODS: Paarjavi’s goal was his first on a goalie this season. (He has another, but it was an empty netter on Nov. 6 against the Devils). Lundqvist looked more like a Shooter Tutor than an actual netminder, as the very stoppable shot squeezed through him on the stick side ... Tom Pyatt drew an assist on the goal. “He’s now halfway to four (points),” noted a press box seat occupant ... Pyatt could have had his first goal of the season had he connected on one of two swings at the puck with Lundqvist sprawled out in the second ... Goalless in eight games entering the night, Bobby Ryan ran into some tough luck in the opening period. The puck seemed to stick to his stick as he drove to the net with the top half beckoning him.
A few minutes later, Ryan rang a shot off the post ... The game was penalty-free until Rangers defenceman Tony DeAngelo was whistled for roughing with 5:12 left in the third.
THE END BOARDS: Early in the day, Mike McKenna was asked about the enthusiastic celebration he had with Brady Tkachuk in Philly at the buzzer. He misunderstood the question, thinking it had to do with the infrequency of his NHL victories. “I won a game last year, too,” said McKenna. “It’s not like they pulled me out of the gutter here, guys.” ... Once we were on the same page, McKenna said of the win: “It always means a lot, but when I turned around and saw it was Brady, it really did to me. We just have a connection, being from the same town.” ... The Senators need to keep the 35-year old backup around. He’s become the best quote on the team.