In Edmonton Sunday, the Ottawa Senators’ Craig Anderson made 37 saves in a 2-0 shutout of the Oilers.
Anderson was back in the crease after taking a leave of absence this past week to be with his wife who had been diagnosed with cancer.
“I think you couldn’t really feel it, the gravity that it was, until the final whistle when the game was over,” Senators captain Erik Karlsson said. “We accomplished a great game led by [Anderson]. He came here [Saturday] and we all knew about it, and obviously, he held a strong face, but you could still see the pain in his eyes. He came in and really led by example, he didn’t say much, he did the same thing, the same routine and he showed what a true leader was.”
Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators.
“It’s a pretty emotional night with everything that’s been going on with this group,” Hoffman said. “Coming in here and facing one of the best teams in the League at the moment was a big task for us. Everyone in here was ready to take them on and we played a solid game, and obviously, [Anderson] coming back and helping this team out is a pretty cool story.”
Cam Talbot took the loss on 20 saves.
Anderson did not speak with the media after the game.
“We expected that from that team, they’re proud players and are going to play that way for a teammate,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “He had an exceptional night. I didn’t think we made it real hard from him in and around the paint. He was able to see the puck and able to not give up many secondary chances and that has a lot to do with their team, but also a little bit to do with ours, so that’s something we have to clean up.”
In Detroit, Colton Sceviour scored a hat trick to lead the Florida Panthers past the Red Wings, 5-2.
“That was exciting; I can’t even remember the last hat trick I scored,” Sceviour said. “I can’t take too much credit though. I think all three goals were shots from the blue.”
Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for the Panthers who snapped a three-game skid.
“I don’t know how to explain it, because Detroit always has great teams,” said Panthers coach Gerard Gallant, who played nine seasons with the Red Wings. “We just seem to play great hockey in this building.”
James Reimer picked up his first win for Florida making 34 saves to earn the win.
“We knew we hadn’t played the way we needed to play in the first three games of the trip,” Reimer said. “The guys really turned it around though.”
Petr Mrazek yielded four goals before being pulled in favor of Jimmy Howard.
“We were not good enough in the first period,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We didn’t compete hard enough and we didn’t execute well enough, and we got ourselves down 3-0. After that, you are just digging yourself out.”
Dylan Larkin and Brendan Smith scored for Detroit.
“Obviously, I have to be better,” Mrazek said. “I didn’t have many shots, but we didn’t play the way we wanted. They were on us, we made some turnovers and they scored the goals.”
In Brooklyn, the New York Islanders scored three goals in the third period to cruise past the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1.
Shane Prince, Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, Josh Bailey, and Travis Hamonic all scored for the Isles.
“We got the result we wanted and there were some good things, but obviously some errors we can still fix,” Islanders John Tavares said. “Sometimes when you get a couple days off, it takes you a little bit to get going again. We have to be better with the puck and with coming out of our end. That’s when we’re a hard team to play against.”
Thomas Greiss made 33 saves in the win.
“For sure,” Greiss said. “A goalie can make a big difference in the game and you have to help your team as much as you can if you want the No. 1 spot. You have to show that you can win games for the team.”
Jake Gardiner was the Leafs’ lone goal scorer.
“We gave up way too much to expect to win,” Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak said. “It’s pretty early in the season, but there are no excuses. We weren’t good enough, especially our line (with James van Riemsdyk and Mitchell Marner). [Enroth] made some really good saves, but we didn’t do much for him.”
Jhonas Enroth made 30 for the Leafs who fell to 2-4-3 on the season.
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