Anderson wins final NHL game, Sabres defeat Senators in OT

BUFFALO -- Craig Anderson made 30 saves for the Buffalo Sabres in his final NHL game, a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

The 41-year-old goalie got his 319th NHL win in his 709th game. Anderson played 10 of his 20 NHL seasons with the Senators.
"It's the perfect story," he said. "It's unbelievable. You're kind of mind-numb to it all. You're just like 'did this really just happen?' This is the way it's supposed to be. Things happen for a reason. This was the way it was supposed to play out. They get a point, we get a point. We win in overtime. You couldn't ask for a better story."

Anderson signed with Buffalo as a free agent in July 2021 and had a substantial impact as a leader and a mentor for a young team.
"We wanted that one for him," Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. "Just an incredible scene. We've had a few of these kind of nights over the last couple years, and this one was right at the top of the list. I'm just so happy for him and what he's done and how he is as a person. How he carries himself every day. The leadership he provides, the perspective that he provides, it's been incredible to play with him."
Casey Mittelstadt scored at 1:18 of overtime to win it for Buffalo, and the players immediately skated down to their own net to mob Anderson for the celebration.
"We look up to him a lot," Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. "We've leaned on him. Each and every guy has leaned on him at one point in time individually. He's led meetings, he's led by example. He's came in and been the ultimate pro. I'm just honored to be his teammate and his friend. It's an unbelievable career."

Mittelstadt also had an assist, and Jeff Skinner had three assists for the Sabres (41-33-7), who play at the Columbus Blue Jackets in their season finale on Friday.
Tim Stutzle
had a goal and an assist for the Senators (39-35-8) in their season finale. Mads Sogaard made 32 saves.
"I didn't think we came out great but I thought we battled back being down 2-0 on the road," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I thought we battled back, had some scoring chances. … I think it speaks volumes of the group. From the moment we're eliminated, we get five of six points. We didn't just lay down and we didn't come here to lay down. We had every opportunity to win. Obviously you'd like to finish the year on a win but I'm happy with the effort the guys gave."

Tage Thompson tied it 3-3 for Buffalo with a one-timer from one knee in the slot on a power play at 3:03 of the third period.
Henri Jokiharju took a pass from Mittelstadt at the top of the right circle and scored on a flutter shot to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the second period.
Victor Olofsson made it 2-0 at 2:46. Sogaard couldn't squeeze a shot from Okposo, and Olofsson pushed in the loose puck from the doorstep.
Stutzle cut it to 2-1 at 4:7 on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Jake Sanderson.
Dylan Gambrell scored from the high slot at 6:11 to tie it 2-2.
Claude Giroux put the Senators ahead 3-2 at 12:36 when he redirected a pass from Brady Tkachuk off his skate through Anderson's pads. Officials reviewed the goal to determine if it had been kicked in but the call stood.
"Obviously, you set up goals to start a season … but it's not the position we want to be in," Giroux said. "We believe in each other and we think we're a playoff team. But it's a bad feeling right now, knowing that we were pretty close. … Personally I'm not ecstatic with the position that we are right now, but saying that we still did a lot of good things and we're going to build on this."

The Senators waited to embrace Anderson and offer their congratulations before leaving the ice.
"[Tkachuk] and [Drake Batherson] were there when I was there, and those guys are forever thankful," Anderson said. "It's an honor for me to be a part of their career too. Even though you don't think you have an impact on guys, at the end of the day, how you treat people and what you say to them, it goes a long way. And I think that's the kind of respect that they gave tonight. I didn't know I had that much influence on those guys."
NOTES: Stutzle had his 31st multipoint game of the season, one shy of the record for most in a season in Senators history set by Daniel Alfredsson in 2005-06. … Thompson left the game at 17:15 of the third and will not play against Columbus. Thompson is the sixth Sabres player to score 20 power-play goals in a season, and the first since Thomas Vanek in 2008-09. He's also the third Buffalo skater with at least 47 goals and 47 or more assists in a single season; Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny each did so in 1992-93.