Senators stone host Rangers; Cammalleri traded
Until Thursday night, the Ottawa Senators were the only team in the NHL that had not posted a shutout this season.
It took them 45 games, but they finally did it Thursday, unexpectedly against the top team in the league, blanking the Rangers 3-0.
The Sens have won seven of their last eight games and the first two on this three-game road trip. The road win was also the team’s 300th in its modern history.
Jason Spezza scored twice, one on a power play, and Milan Michalek added his 23rd of the season, while Craig Anderson, 7-0-1 in his last eight games, stopped 34 shots. Erik Karlsson had two assists.
“They have a good team over there and they came out of the gate pretty hard,” said Anderson. “I made some saves early, to kind of get the team settled in, and we kind of took over the game from there.”
The Montreal Canadiens, meanwhile, have traded forward Michael Cammalleri the day after he made comments critical of the team.
The Habs shipped Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames for forward Rene Bourque. Montreal also gets forward prospect Patrick Holland and a second-round pick in the 2013 draft. The Flames receive goalie Karri Ramo and a fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft.
“Mike Cammalleri is a dynamic player who enjoyed great success playing in Calgary,” Flames general manager Jay Feaster said. The Flames won 1-0 in overtime against Anaheim on Thursday.
Cammalleri was present and played part of Montreal’s Thursday night game in Boston against the Bruins, but vanished after the second period. “[It was difficult to pull Cammalleri] after two periods in a very tight game,” Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier said. “. . . It was the right thing to do for all parties.”
Cammalleri played one season in Calgary, amassing a career-high 39 goals and 43 assists in 81 games in 2008-09. He had nine goals and 13 assists in 38 games this year. The Habs lost to the Bruins 2-1. Elsewhere, Antti Niemi turned aside 24 shots as the San Jose Sharks beat the Jets 2-0 at the Mtscentre in Winnipeg. Brad Winchester scored for the Sharks early in the third to put the visitors up 2-0. Logan Couture scored the first goal in the second.