Going The Distance

Craig-bleepin'-Anderson.

If there was one reason why the Penguins will host the Senators in Game Seven in Pittsburgh, Craig Anderson is the reason. Anderson stopped 45 shots in the must-win game to extend the series to Thursday where the Senators will look to win the best-of-one game now. To say Anderson was huge in this game would be doing him a disservice because he was the only reason why the Penguins weren't out to another big lead like they were in Game Five.

"You know, as far as tonight, you just try to stay in the moment as best you can and focus on the baby steps," Anderson told reporters. "One shot at a time, and the big picture takes care of itself when you worry about the details."

The details, if you're keeping track at home, is that Anderson's performance pushes this series to a Game Seven where neither team has a particularly great record. The Penguins are 9-7 in Game Sevens, but are 3-7 at home in the final game of a series. The Senators, on the other hand, are 0-5 in Game Sevens with a rather spectacular 0-4 record on the road. Pittsburgh dropped their second game of the playoffs after scoring first, so there's some hope that the Penguins can score first in Game Seven. They have just one win when their opponent scores first.

Pittsburgh is hoping for the same effort they got tonight and on Sunday when they trounced Ottawa 7-0 at the PPG Paints Arena. Ottawa is looking to weather the storm and capitalize when they can just as they did tonight. Only one will advance to host the waiting Nashville Predators on Monday.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!