In his first NHL playoff experience, Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson finished with a 2.62 goals-against average and a solid .933 save percentage in Colorado’s six-game series loss to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Through Saturday’s games, Anderson’s save percentage placed him in a third-place tie — with Boston’s Tuukka Rask — among the 22 goalies who had played in the postseason. The only goalies ahead of them were Philadelphia’s Brian Boucher (.940) and Buffalo’s Ryan Miller (.936).
It’s a bit misleading because the Avalanche made first-round exits only twice during Patrick Roy’s tenure as Colorado’s goalie, and otherwise advanced to at least the Western Conference finals, but Roy only once had a better playoff save percentage than Anderson did this spring. Roy’s save percentage of .934 came in 2001, when Colorado won the Stanley Cup for the second time.
This was an indication of how the ice was tipped much of the time in the series with the Sharks, and also because three of the games went to overtime, but Anderson faced 239 shots — an average of 40 per game and a stunning 56 more than the second-busiest goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury of Pittsburgh.
Anderson’s 51-save shutout of the Sharks in the 1-0 victory in Game 3 was at least statistically the most impressive performance of any goaltender through Saturday’s games, since the most saves posted in any of the other five shutouts was the 33 made by Chicago’s Antti Niemi against the Nashville Predators.
“We had a great group of guys here,” Anderson said after the Avs were eliminated Saturday night. “It would be nice to have everybody back. It’s a great room. We just have to keep growing together.”
Although Anderson didn’t play as well in the final two games as he did earlier in the series, it would be difficult to find him at fault for the Avalanche’s series loss, and it added to the impression that he had made the most of his first season-long chance to be a No. 1 goalie in the league. He did it at age 28, after signing a two-year, $3.6 million contract with the Avs last summer as an unrestricted free agent.
“You get everything in this game by earning it,” Anderson said. “Nothing’s given to you. Sometimes you just need an opportunity. It’s what you do with the opportunity. Sometimes you get only one opportunity. I was fortunate enough to get a couple of opportunities, and I learned how to make the most of it.”
First-round exits.
Although the Avalanche at one point led the Sharks 2-1 in the series, it’s fair to say the Avalanche’s two other first-round exits were considered far more surprising and disappointing. Colorado was favored in both series and led 3-1 before losing the final three games, against Edmonton in 1998 and Minnesota in 2003. The Edmonton loss set in motion the bizarre circumstances that led to the departure of coach Marc Crawford later that spring, and the 2003 defeat helped convince Roy he was ready for retirement.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
