ANDERSON WON’T SOON FORGET HIGH-SCORING MILESTONE GAME
This wasn’t the way Craig Anderson would have scripted his homecoming in a milestone game.
That’s OK. Some day, down the road, he’ll be able to laugh about it.
Sitting in the hall behind the bench at the United Center in Chicago on Monday night, where he got the call to replace starting goalie Anders Nilsson in the first period with Sens already trailing 4-3, the 600th game for the club’s top goalie didn’t go exactly as planned. But it’s a strong achievement, nonetheless.
Not only did Anderson become the 50th goalie in NHL history to join the 600 club in the club’s 8-7 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, he also became the only goalie selected in the 2001 draft to do so. He entered the game at 13:22 of the first period after Nilsson gave up his fourth goal on just 12 shots.
After the game, Anderson spent time with family and friends from the area who were in the crowd. Earlier that night he surrendered four goals on the 30 shots he faced in only 37:09 of playing time.
“A lot of it was that it was just one of those nights where they were making good plays and we just weren’t able to be up to speed with it,” Anderson said after the game. “They made that extra pass and we were just a step too slow on reading that and getting to it.”
It was surprising to see Anderson in the first place. He told reporters on Sunday that he didn’t think he’d be ready to start Monday night because he was still having issues with sensitivity to light.
“I never want to change a goaltender,” coach Guy Boucher said. “Ideally, you go into games and you hope you don’t have to do that.
“At that point, they changed theirs and we changed ours. It was one of those games. I probably would have liked to have given Andy a bit more time before we put him back in, but medically we had to revisit that (Monday) and he was able to be the backup.”
Anderson took eye drops through the course of the game, and later made it clear he wasn’t upset at being pressed into action.
“I’m never frustrated about playing,” said Anderson. “Sunday was about the eye dryness and the irritation and some of the blurriness was pretty imminent still. Again (Monday) morning it was still there, but it was a little better.
“It’s just time and managing with some eye drops. Keeping it moist seemed to benefit it. Not ideal or the way we drew it up, but you can’t be frustrated with playing. We’re fortunate to play this game, and you relish every moment you can to play this game.”
BACK TO DRAWING BOARD
Let’s face it, this game was fun for the fans, who later were buzzing over the 15-goal explosion between the Senators and the Hawks.
That included the most goals in one period by two teams in Ottawa’s franchise history and it was also only the fourth time in 30 years that two teams have combined for nine goals in the first period.
It’s back to the drawing board for Boucher and his staff when the team arrives in New Jersey on Wednesday. They’ll prepare to face the Devils on Thursday night at the Prudential Center to close out this road trip.
“Even if you win, it’s a weird one,” Boucher said. “It’s been 22 years, and I’ve seen a lot of weird games, and that’s one of them. You know it right away.”
The Senators jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 2:40 mark of the first period, but at the 5:07 mark, the Hawks had tied it up 2-2.
From there, it was night for players on both teams to pile up the points. Chicago starting goalie Colin Delia didn’t make it through the first 20 minutes, either.
“Both teams are pretty equal in what’s happening and you feel it’s going to be a toss-up. It’s whoever makes the last mistake, and that’s what it was,” Boucher said.
THE LAST WORDS
Perhaps, the best advice for the Senators is just to forget about what took place in Chicago and move on. What other choice do they have?
“Both teams were trading tons of chances and were burying them,” said defenceman Thomas Chabot, who scored twice in third period to move Ottawa to within a goal after the Hawks took an 8-5 lead. “Not the game you want, but those happen. We had a late push, but we know this isn’t the type of game we want to play. That was too many mistakes.
“We’re going to try and flush that one to get ready to play the way we know we can.”
Chabot was plus-three with a team-high 27:13 of ice time ... Centre Matt Duchene has seen a lot in his career, but he hasn’t seen many games like that in what could be his one of his final outings in an Ottawa jersey. “That was crazy,” he said. “We were on pace for it to be 15-12 after the first period. It was nuts. That was one of the craziest games I’ve been a part of.”