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Anderson, Senators blank Capitals

Mar 26, 2011 - 3:30 AM Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Craig Anderson notched his second shutout of the season as Ottawa defeated Washington, 2-0, to avoid a season series sweep.

Anderson, who was traded to Ottawa from Colorado earlier this season, made 31 saves for the Eastern Conference's last place Senators. Erik Condra and Colin Greening each tallied in the win, Ottawa's fourth in five games.

"He saw the pucks that's the important thing," Senators head coach Cory Clouston said of Anderson. "There wasn't a lot of second and third opportunities."

Semyon Varlamov surrendered both goals on 23 shots as the Capitals lost for just the second time in 13 games and also remain two points behind idle Philadelphia for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Neither teams could light the lamp in the first period as the Capitals held a slim 11-10 shot advantage.

It took nearly 13 1/2 minutes of the second for Ottawa to break the scoring. Jason Spezza collected the puck off the backboards and wrapped it to the front of the net. Greening was charging toward the net and whiffed on the shot. However, the puck went off both his skates before crossing the line during the goalmouth scramble. The play was reviewed and was upheld, confirming that Greening did not use a kicking motion for his fourth goal of the season.

Condra put the hosts up 2-0 on his one-timer from the right circle just 2:12 into the final frame. Milan Michalek's quick pass from the corner set up Contra's blast.

The Senators held the lead the rest of the way while Anderson was stellar, making 12 saves in the final 20 minutes.

"I don't know if we tested them enough," Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We had some grade-A chances to score. We probably had more chances then them."

Game Notes

The Senators hadn't shutout the Capitals since April 5, 2002...The Capitals were without All-Star Alex Ovechkin as the team announced on Monday that he will miss 7-to-10 days with an undisclosed injury...Both clubs were 0-3 on the power play.