Sanderson’s 2024-25 season has seen him take a significant step in his development as a young No. 1 defenceman. His game-winning goal in Game 4 now stands as an early hallmark in his career. More importantly, it keeps the Senators alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs for at least one more game.
“Probably No. 1,” Sanderson said of where he’d rank the moment. “Crazy atmosphere again. So, it was pretty awesome.”
It came well after a significant mistake.
Sanderson and his everyday partner Artem Zub failed to close down Knies at the blue line, leading to the forward speeding through the neutral zone before beating Linus Ullmark on a breakaway and scoring a tying goal.
“We’ve got to communicate better,” Sanderson said of the play. “I think the puck just squirted out in between us. There wasn’t a lot of talking. We’ll clean that up.”
Sanderson and Zub are far and away the Senators’ best defensive pairing. The pairing posted the Sens’ best expected goals per 60 rate of all Sens’ pairings (minimum 200 minutes according to MoneyPuck) and can be counted on in most situations. But their misplay on Knies stood out.
But in overtime, after the Senators were given the mantra to shoot early and often, Sanderson heeded those words after Tyler Kleven drove into the offensive zone and rimmed the puck around the boards. Sanderson seemingly always skillfully keeps pucks from leaving the attacking area. Those skills served him well as his ensuing shot beat Stolarz and sent fans into a frenzy.
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