WATCH: Senators' Craig Anderson shuts out Oilers after wife's cancer diagnosis

Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson has gone through a week no professional athlete, or any regular human being for that matter, would ever hope to endure. It was announced Thursday that Anderson would be taking a leave of absence from the team. Two days later, it was revealed that the veteran netminder's wife, Nicholle, had been diagnosed with cancer.

On Friday night, Anderson's backup, Andrew Hammond, was injured during the first period of Friday night's game against the Calgary Flames. He was then placed on injured reserve, guaranteeing he'd miss multiple games. If both Hammond and Anderson were sidelined, the Sens would have to go with the inexperienced tandem of Chris Driedger and Matt O'Connor.

Senators GM Pierre Dorion made the announcement of Nicholle's diagnosis on behalf of the family Saturday. He also revealed that Anderson was going to end his leave of absence after just two days to return to the team. According to Dorion, the decision for the No. 1 goalie to return came from Nicholle, who is still waiting to learn more about her diagnosis.

"Given that they're in the wait period and Andrew Hammond's (hurt), Nicholle told Craig to phone me, which he did during the game," Dorion said Saturday (via the Ottawa Sun). "We talked to Craig after the game and it was determined that because they're in a wait period and they were going to drive to Ottawa together as a family today that it would be all right for Craig to come and rejoin his team."

Anderson's first game back after dealing with this news was Sunday night on the road in Edmonton for a date with one of the league's hottest-starting teams in the Oilers. The coaching staffs for both teams wore the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer ties as a nod to the Andersons.

He didn't tiptoe back into anything after the emotional roller coaster this week has surely been. The 35-year-old goalie stopped all 37 shots he faced as the Senators earned a 2-0 win over Edmonton. It was just the second loss for the Oilers through nine games. They also out-shot the Senators 37-22. It was a monumental performance from Anderson to help his team come away with two points.

The goaltender was clearly emotional after the game, as his teammates came to embrace him following the win.

Anderson was then named the game's first star. It is very rare that the player from the visiting team will come out onto the ice to acknowledge the crowd, whether he is the first star or not. But Anderson came out and received a warm ovation from the Edmonton faithful. Among those cheering was Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot.

Sportsnet's cameras were behind the scenes as Anderson awaited his name being called. This is one of the more touching things you'll see at a hockey arena:

It was an incredible performance, an emotional win and an incredibly touching moment after the game.

Now the real battle begins for Craig and Nicholle Anderson as they await more information and start plotting their course of action going forward. There's no doubt that they will have an army of support behind them as Nicholle readies for her fight.