OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson was just glad to be back around his teammates and to pick up a win. That it was a shutout was icing on the cake.
Anderson made his first start in 69 days and turned aside 33 shots as the Ottawa Senators beat the New York 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.”
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.
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.
Stone opened the scoring at 4:10 of the first period.
After stealing the puck from Alan Quine in the Islanders’ zone, Stone fed Erik Karlsson, who missed the net with his shot. Stone followed up behind the net, collected the puck and banked a shot from behind the goal line off Greiss and in.
Smith gave the Senators a 2-0 lead at 4:35 of the second period. Kyle Turris sent Smith in alone and he moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand to beat Greiss.
A little less than three minutes later, Pageau put the Senators up 3-0 when he redirected a pass from Tom Pyatt past Greiss at 7:12.
“It was a great pass from Pyatt,” Paguea said. “In the defensive zone we wanted to cut off their play and break out on the attack and that’s what Pyatt did and then he put the puck right on my stick.”
Paguea also 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.”
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.
NOTES: Chris Neil, Curtis Lazar and Andrew Hammond were scratches for the Senators. Cal Clutterbuck, Stephen Gionta and Scott Mayfield were scratches for the Islanders. . Senators goaltender Andrew Hammond celebrated his 29th birthday on Saturday by being placed on waivers. … The Islanders are 23-5-3 this season when they score at least three goals in a game. When they don’t hit the three-goal mark, however, they are just 1-14-7.
UP NEXT
The Senators are off until Tuesday when they host the Buffalo Sabres.
The Islanders host the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
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