Player Of The Night: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators:
What a difference 24 hours makes.
On Tuesday night the Ottawa Senators were getting blown out by the Chicago Blackhawks in a game that saw Craig Anderson give up four goals on 26 shots in less than 30 minutes of action.
He still gave up three goals on Wednesday night and the Senators could have very easily been blown out again, but thanks to Anderson’s 45 saves they were able to leave Toronto with a 4-3 win over the Maple Leafs. The Senators were not particularly good on Wednesday, but Anderson was a game-changer and was able to keep his team in the game long enough to wait for Toronto to make a couple of crucial defensive mistakes that helped Ottawa pull off the win.
It is the second time in his past three starts that Anderson has had to make at least 45 saves in a Senators win (more on that in a minute), also doing it on Saturday in a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Player Of The Night, Part Two: Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
While Anderson was stealing a game in Toronto for the Senators, Devan Dubnyk was having a similar night for the Minnesota Wild in Chicago. He only had to stop 34 out of 35 shots to help lead his team to a much-needed 2-1 win over the Blackhawks, but he played an equally big role in the result. Especially during the first period when the Blackhawk were skating circles around the Wild and Dubnyk did everything he could to keep his team in the game.
Welcome Back, Brent
You just had to know that when Brent Seabrook drew back into the Chicago Blackhawks lineup on Wednesday night after being a healthy scratch the night before that he was going to play some sort of a role in the game or make some kind of an impact. He did not waste much time. He scored the game’s opening goal 12:24 into the first period to give Chicago an early 1-0 lead.
The play had to withstand a coach’s challenge from Minnesota for a potential offside play, but there was not enough evidence to overturn. For Seabrook it was his second goal of the season and his first since the team’s 10-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season opener all the way back on October 5. He had three points (one goal, two assists) that night. Before Wednesday’s game he had zero goals and eight assists in the 40 games that followed.
Highlight Of The Night
It came in a loss, and it did not result in a goal, but take a look at the stickhandling of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews.
Possibly a new #NHLAllStar Skills Competition event. @AM34 pic.twitter.com/fPtyqlNx6s
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 11, 2018
Factoid Of The Night
You could say that Craig Anderson likes to keep busy during games.
Craig Anderson (45 saves) improved to 30-6-8 in contests with 40 or more saves. #NHLStats #OTTvsTOR pic.twitter.com/NN1On1x6sz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 11, 2018
Scores
Ottawa Senators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Minnesota Wild 2, Chicago Blackhawks 1
Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
