Ottawa Senators left winger Guillaume Latendresse cheers as teammate center Kyle Turris scores in the third period during NHL hockey in Winnipeg, Man. Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. (BRIAN DONOGH/QMI AGENCY)
WINNIPEG - The Senators had no need to apologize for their performance Saturday afternoon at the MTS Centre.
No, it wasn’t a perfect victory, but it was a lot better than the alternative for the Senators as they rode strong effort by goaltender Craig Anderson in a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in the season opener at the MTS Centre.
Chris Neil, Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek scored for the Senators while Anderson made 27 stops as Ottawa held the Jets to 1-for-4 on the power play. Only Dustin Byfuglien was able to score for the Jets.
While it had been 267 days since Anderson had faced an NHL shot, he didn’t look like he missed a beat by giving the club the saves when they were needed the most as the Senators opened up what will be a 48-game race to the post-season.
