Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Craig Anderson will be back between the pipes on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. It’ll be the first time he’ll get a chance to play against the team that he played for over a nine-and-a-half-year span.
The 40-year-old veteran is doing his best to try and not get too hyped up for the game.
“It’s no different than playing any other team, I think that’s the mindset," Anderson said following Wednesday's practice. "Obviously there are guys there that I played with and coaching staff and trainers, so that’s always fun to see those guys. But at the end of the day, when the puck drops, you’re still competing and you’re still trying to win the game.”
Anderson still knows the guys in Ottawa well enough that there will be trash talking throughout the game.
“I’m sure there’ll be chirps and whatnot from some guys, but you take it, you see how the game plays out and you just go out and play hard,” he said.
Anderson doesn’t strike me as the type of man that would chirp right back.
“It depends on the guy, but for the most part it’s nod and smile, because you don’t want to get caught up in it," Anderson said with a smile. "You don’t want to take yourself off the game, and you definitely don’t want to get them fired up either. So it’s all fun and we’re having a good time, and a couple of chirps might lighten the mood, because I learned playing beer league hockey in Florida. The more chirps you have, the more fun you have.”
As far as how Anderson is handling the injury he's been dealing with for most of the season, he says he’s in a good place with it.
“Physically, we’re getting to the point where we’re able to manage the condition and we’re just taking it day-by-day," Anderson said. "It’s a lot of time on the treatment table making sure everything stays calm. So far in the games I’ve played, it’s felt like we’re going in the right direction and there’s not any backlash. There’s not any hiccups here.
“I’m just going forward and will play when called upon, and I’ll be sure to do everything I can to be healthy when Don [Granato] wants me to play.”
Casey Mittelstadt took a regular line shift on Wednesday, but even though he’s handling things well, he won’t play Thursday, according to Granato.
“We drove him hard after practice, we gave him his own line in practice to give him more practice reps, so we’ll communicate with him on that. But no, no chance, in my mind, that he’s in there tomorrow,” the Sabres head coach said.
Defenseman Robert Hagg will be back in the lineup on Thursday. He was paired with Mark Pysyk during Wednesday's practice.
WEDNESDAY’S LINES:
Forwards:
Skinner – Thompson – Tuch
Krebs – Cozens – Olofsson
Asplund – Eakin – Okposo
Bjork – Mittelstadt – Hayden
Defense:
Dahlin – Jokiharju
Hagg – Pysyk
Samuelsson – Fitzgerald
Jankowski - Bryson
