Ottawa Senators Goaltender Craig Anderson will return to the ice tonight to face the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Anderson has missed the last four games due to a knee injury suffered against the St. Louis Blues on Mar. 1.
The Senators announced that Anderson will play via their official Twitter account.
Correction: Coach Cameron confirms that @CraigAnderson41 will start tonight, while Wiercioch & Puempel enter the lineup for Paul & Wideman.
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 10, 2016
Prior to getting injured, Anderson boasted a 27-20-1 record to go along with his 2.81 goals-against average and .917 save-percentage.
Anderson’s return can’t come soon enough, as the Senators have struggled in his absence. With Andrew Hammond between the pipes, Ottawa went 1-2-1 through their last four games and still sit five points behind the Detroit Red Wings for an Eastern Conference playoff bid. Detroit also has two games in hand on Ottawa.
Wiercioch and Puempel Also Active vs. Florida
According to the Senators, Patrick Wiercioch will replace Chris Wideman in the starting lineup while Matt Puempel also gets the nod over Nick Paul.
Wiercioch hasn’t played a game since Feb. 20, having been a healthy scratch as of late. He is expected to be paired with Mike Kostka on the Senators’ third pairing tonight in Florida. So far through 51 games-played, the 25-year old blue-liner has zero goals and five assists.
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