Craig Anderson Jersey Card

It's been a hell of a season for Craig Anderson, what with staying home to help his wife in her battle against cancer, yet coming back for shutout wins against the Edmonton Oilers and now the surging New York Islanders.

I've been a fan of Anderson's since he came to the Ottawa Senators in 2011 and just took possession of the net, never relinquishing his starter status even when the team had such viable and younger backups as Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott and Robin Lehner. He just wouldn't budge and kept offering strong performances, which is why I'm not surprised he's currently in the top-5 in the NHL with a 2.34 GAA, .927 save percentage, and 4 shutouts in 20 games, for an average of 1 every 5 games.

I've said it before, but I'll display the staggering statistics, just for fun: he's also bested Carey Price in both playoff series where they've faced each other, which happened to be in a three-year span, starting with 2013:

Oh yeah, Price has a tendency to get injured when things don't go his way, and let the other goalie face elimination

But even when the Sens lose, Anderson's still on top, as can be attested by when they faced each other in 2015 (keep in mind Anderson came into game 3 without having played in months due to injury, the Sens losing the series 2-0, as they'd played Andrew Hammond first, who was in better game shape and had just been in a Cinderella run):

Both did well in 2015 (it was Price's dream season, after all), but Anderson was better. He just has that ability to shut the door when it matters, under pressure.

And this is why I'm giving him another nod today, as he's making a strong case for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which recognized perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game, with card #GJ-CA from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Sens' red (home) uniform, wearing his Colorado Avalanche blocker and glove; it features a white (presumably from his days with the Avs, perhaps going as far back as his days with the Chicago Blackhawks or Florida Panthers) game-worn jersey swatch.