Leafs’ Scrivens ‘put in the time’ for first career shutout

What better way to celebrate a career-first than with a win over an arch rival and heroes of the good old days in attendance.

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens pitched a 34-save effort for his first career shutout in a 3-0 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators at the Air Canada Centre, before members of the 1963 Leafs Stanley-Cup winning team, which was honoured prior to the game.

“You put in the time in practice and you don’t change your approach if you’re playing or not playing or playing the night before,” Scrivens told the Toronto Star.

“You come on the ice, you work hard, one shot at a time, focus on the process. That way you’re ready to go in if something happens. If you don’t go in, better safe than sorry. That’s been my mindset, and it’s paid dividends so far.”

Scrivens also out-dueled Senators goalie Craig Anderson, who despite losing his last two starts, has a league-best .948 save percentage and a 1.61 goals-against average, which is second among NHL goalies.

“Yeah, feels good,” Scrivens told NHL.com. “Mostly it’s gratitude for the guys playing well in front of me.

“Any goalie will tell you a shutout is a team stat, and the guys definitely helped me out big time tonight. They let me see the puck, they cleared away second chances so much of the credit goes to them.”