When a goaltender gets pulled in a playoff game, one can only imagine what goes through his psyche.
After allowing three goals on 21 shots to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 on Friday night at the Consol Energy Center, Ottawa Senators netminder Craig Anderson was pulled in favor of backup goaltender Robin Lehner. At the time Anderson was pulled, the 31-year-old masked man looked shaky between the pipes for his hockey club and was allowing goals that he would normally stop and furthermore, he had trouble coming up with the big save when his team needed one the most.
Coming into Game 3 in Ottawa, many hockey fans and pundits alike wondered if Anderson would be back between the pipes for his hockey club. Lehner was solid in relief of Anderson in making 20 saves on 21 shots and kept Game 2 within reach for the Senators and definitely deserved at least a look for a possible start on Sunday night in Ottawa.
Senators head coach Paul MacLean decided to go with Anderson and while it might have seemed questionable at the time, it certainly was not the case at the end of the tilt. The Senators won 2-1 in overtime thanks to the outstanding play of Anderson.
Anderson made 49 saves in picking up his fifth victory of the postseason. In the game, Anderson did a much better job of stopping the shots he should, controlling his rebounds, and making the big saves when his team needed to the most.
This was especially the case in the first overtime. Anderson helped kill off an early Penguins power play and then made a great left pad save on all-star Evgeni Malkin as he went around the Senators’ defence with ease.
Anderson made 18 saves in overtime and gave forward Colin Greening a chance to score the overtime winner to get the Senators back in this series. It was a nice reward for Andersons’ superb play after regulation and a goal that looks big going into Game 4 on Wednesday night.
One also cannot forget about Anderson’s play in regulation. Anderson stopped 31 of 32 through three periods and made one heck of a breakaway save on Penguins franchise forward Sidney Crosby on a Penguins power play in the second period.
This save is a perfect example of how Anderson made saves during the regular season. On this particular play, he came out of his crease to challenge Crosby, and then slowly moved back to his crease as Crosby came in and gave Crosby nothing to shoot at and made the save by being square to the shooter.
Like he was for much of the regular season and in their first round victory over the Montreal Canadiens, Anderson needed to be the Senators best player in Game 3. Anderson answered the call and did so in a confident manner.
Look for Anderson to play even bigger and better on Wednesday night as the Senators look to even up the series.
