NEW YORK – Craig Anderson stood tall once again in the Ottawa Senators crease Saturday night, turning aside 41 shots to lead his team to a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The victory gives Ottawa a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal, with game six taking place in Ottawa on Monday night.
“To shut a team out on the road is pretty tough to do, especially in the playoffs in this atmosphere,” Ottawa center Jason Spezza told the Canadian Press of Anderson. “When Andy is seeing the puck well and seeing things from the outside, that’s when he’s at his best.”
Anderson began the series playing in the shadow of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, considered by many to be the top puck stopper in the NHL right now. But Anderson is earning his own headlines in the matchup, as both goalies have stolen victories for their team in the series.
“Our guys did a great job of allowing me to see the puck tonight,” Anderson told NHL.com after game five, directing credit for the shutout to his teammates. “Any type of rebound, we were able to clean those up pretty good. Sometimes when you get out to a lead, teams start to throw everything at the net from bad angles and whatnot, just trying to generate some offense. It works both ways. There’s going to be opportunities when you’re going to have to make a big save and there’s opportunities where just that routine save is key to a victory.”
Even Lundqvist can’t help but notice how well his Ottawa counterpart is playing, as he heaped praise on Anderson after his game five shutout.
“He played well,” Lundqvist told NHL.com. “He’s been playing well in the series. It’s a challenge for us to win this. We have to keep working, have to keep pushing ourselves to play even better and get a little more involved in front of the net. The guys have been doing a great job. You can’t work harder. The guys put everything out there.”
Spezza also played a pivotal role in the Senators victory Saturday night, scoring both of his team’s goals. He opened the scoring at 9:18 of the first period, with assists going to Filip Kuba and Mark Stone, who was playing his first NHL game. Spezza’s second of the night was an empty net goal with 56 seconds remaining in the third period. Zenon Konopka had an assist on the marker.
“I’ve been working hard and it’s nice to get rewarded but at this time of year the most important things are wins,” Spezza said to the Ottawa Citizen.
Although he was outshone by Anderson for much of the game, Lundqvist played very well for the Rangers, making 28 saves.
The game five win by Ottawa puts them one win away from winning the Eastern Conference quarterfinal, with an opportunity to wrap up the series at home on Monday. However, according to Rangers forward Brad Richards, the Senators shouldn’t start planning any victory parties just yet.
“Win that one and bring it back here,” Richards said to the Associated Press of game six in Ottawa. “It’s just going to take seven games now. That’s the reality.”
Contact Darcy.MacRae@prohockeynews.com
