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‘What a team is all about’ - Sens, Oilers on Anderson’s night

Arizona Coyotes v Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA, CANADA - OCTOBER 18: Mark Stone #61 and Craig Anderson #41 of the Ottawa Senators share a laugh during a stoppage of play in an NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Canadian Tire Centre on October 18, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images)

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With incredible emotion in the air, Craig Anderson put together a performance many hockey fans will never forget.

Neither will his teammates or his opponents.

Anderson returned to the ice for the first time since announcing that his wife, Nicholle, has been diagnosed with cancer.

You can read more about Anderson’s 37-save shutout in the Ottawa Senators’ 2-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers here, but hearing individuals reflect on this emotional night really drives the point home.

“That’s what a team is all about,” Connor McDavid said. “Obviously it’s a terrible thing that’s going on ... his team battled hard and pulled out a great thing for him.”

The Oilers provided some fantastic gestures, from fans giving Anderson a standing ovation after the game to Cam Talbot sticking around to applaud his efforts.

It’s something both sides acknowledged after the game.

Sometimes in sports, language is used to dramatize what is ultimately a game, with athletes flippantly labeled “warriors.” Even so, it was moving how often the word “family” came up in the Senators’ reactions:

As much as sadness as this story evokes, it’s touching to see both sides support Anderson.

Those feelings override the X’s and O’s, as Bobby Ryan said, and they even make it easy to forget just how splendid Anderson was in Ottawa’s net on Sunday.