Craig Anderson brings stability to Sens for Game 5 vs. Habs

Goaltending in this year's NHL playoffs has been fluid around the league and Ottawa is no exception, but the Senators have to be thankful for the stable and reliable presence of Craig Anderson.

Andrew "Hamburglar" Hammond's run of 20-1-2 to end the regular season vaulted the Senators into a playoff spot after the team sat a distant 14 points out in February.

No team had overcome that deficit before.

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After just two sub-par efforts in Games 1 and 2, though, Anderson has burgled the starting spot back from the Hamburglar.

So, why did Dave Cameron make the quick move?

That question can be answered by Anderson's performance in Games 3 and 4, where he held a combined save percentage of .974 and a goals against average of 0.93.

That's the type of goaltending Ottawa needs to upset Montreal, which Hammond had not provided with his numbers of .914 and 3.44.

Anderson, who also backstopped the upset over the Canadiens in 2013, will take the ice Friday for his first road game of the playoffs.

He has yet to face the intense and difficult playoff atmosphere of Montreal this year, but won two of three games in Montreal during the series two years ago.

Hammond's inexperience, on the other hand, showed inside the Bell Centre.

Ottawa's sudden depth in net meant Dave Cameron could turn to his right and find a 33-year-old with 23 games of playoff experience, before this year.

Anderson makes steady improvement

Returning from a hand injury, Anderson had his struggles as Ottawa pushed for a playoff spot.

His save percentage in a 3-1 loss to Boston on March 10 was a disappointing .864. Consistently, Anderson improved over the next four games with save percentages of .871, .917, then .959 and 1.000 in the last two playoff games.

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I held a belief that Anderson would take the net back before season's end, which had nothing to do with his salary or Hammond. When you face a do-or-die situation, young teams like Ottawa need a veteran goalie's pedigree.

Veteran teams can sometimes turn to their goalie with less experience. Right now, Chicago is going with its back-up Scott Darling, while St. Louis and Detroit have turned to younger netminders in Jake Allen and Petr Mrazek, respectively.

Those second options do involve a dose of doubt, but Anderson has proven the Senators can count on him.