At 41, Craig Anderson continues to turn back the clock for Sabres

Here’s a fun fact: the Toronto Maple Leafs have now lost five-straight games to teams using a 40-plus-year-old goaltender.

Everyone remembers the David Ayres game in 2020. He was 42. Craig Anderson won the other four games, excluding the loss when Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started and Anderson was forced to take over after UPL allowed four goals on 10 shots. Anderson is 41, turning 42 in May.

After Anderson’s time in Ottawa came to a close in 2020, it looked like that was it. But it wasn’t. He signed in Washington and played just six games between the regular season and playoffs as the team looked to shore up its taxi squad. The Sabres then brought him in for 2021-22, and while the final stats might not look great, he had more than his fair share of fantastic performances.

Anderson has managed to avoid father time for now. He’s always smiling and cracking jokes. His teammates love him. Anderson is calm, relaxed and living his best life. The pressure to perform hasn’t been there – until now. With his help, the Sabres have a shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

Anderson is the oldest player in the NHL today – 15,273 days old, to be exact – and one of just 24 goalies to play over the age of 40. Maurice Roberts (45 years, 345 days old) was the oldest to ever get a start back in 1951. So getting into your 40s as an NHL goaltender – especially in the rough and tumble butterfly era that tends to end careers quite early – is a challenge on its own.

The fact he’s still getting the job done at the ancient age of 41 is remarkable. He made 25 saves against Toronto on Monday, his first start in a week, but he truly was the difference-maker in the first half of that game. Toronto looked like the better team, but Anderson, Alex Tuch and the rest of the crew managed to complete a comeback victory.

Performances like that – and his 49-save performance four starts ago against Florida – are precisely the results the Sabres need in the fight to make the wild card.

Anderson is 10-9-2 with a respectable .917 save percentage this year. Anderson’s 1.9 wins-above replacement leads all Sabres, and is 19th overall among 88 goaltenders, according to Evolving-Hockey. Despite facing the 11th most shots-per-60 at 31.73, Anderson has the best numbers on the Sabres. Seriously, that’s some good stuff.

In fact, if his overall save percentage of .917 holds, it’ll be the best since his .926 during that magical 2016-17 season with the Senators.

The Sabres sit fourth in the Eastern Conference wild card race. They’re five points behind the New York Islanders and seven below Pittsburgh, so it’s tight. The gap from first to seventh is just nine points, and the Sabres have been streaky lately. They will have to be much better down the stretch, and getting Tuch back from injury helps. The Panthers, Islanders and Penguins have played some solid hockey recently. That puts Buffalo on edge, and it will need the others to stumble.

Anderson's glory days are way behind him, but it’s worth noting that his career playoff save percentage of .929 is the best of any active goalie. He’s also eighth in shutouts with four and has an overall positive record of 24-23. Some people might really forget how good he’s been in the postseason. That's not to say it will automatically translate over this year, but don’t doubt his capabilities under pressure.

Anderson is easy to cheer for, on and off the ice. He’s helping to keep the Sabres alive through thick and thin. Even with top-flight young defensemen in Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin keeping him company, there aren’t many easy nights. And if this ends up being his last run at the playoffs, you can guarantee Anderson will give it his all. He’s had some outstanding performances when the games mean something throughout his career.

If the Sabres have their way, he has a few more season-saving efforts left in him.