OTTAWA -- Goalie Mike Condon had a lot of help while winning his first game with the Ottawa Senators.

Condon made 27 saves in the 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, and his new teammates blocked 25 shots.

"The guys played their heart out," said Condon, who was acquired by the Senators on Wednesday after Ottawa's No. 1 goalie, Craig Anderson, left the team to be with his wife as she battles cancer. "They were great in front of the net for me. Shows the character of this team, and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

The loss was the seventh in a row for the Canucks (4-6-1). They have scored just two goals in their past five games.

"We have a way of making goalies look like they're all named Carey Price or something like that right now," Canucks winger Jannik Hansen said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing or who's in net, they have the night of their life."

The Senators (7-3-0) posted their third shutout win of the season.

Winger Mike Hoffman scored the only goal of the game, beating Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom off a turnover in the Vancouver zone with an unassisted effort at 14:42 of the second period.

After a giveaway by defenseman Erik Gudbranson, Markstrom lunged at the loose puck but couldn't get to it before Hoffman, who wound up with an open net.

Markstrom made 23 saves.

"I was just trying to forecheck, then all of a sudden I had a little mini breakaway," said Hoffman, whose initial thought was to pass off to winger Bobby Ryan. "Then the goalie came out and pokechecked, and I knew it was an open net, so I just tried to get it on net as quick as I could."

Condon was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The Senators were forced to make the move with Anderson on a leave of absence and backup Andrew Hammond out due to a groin injury.

The shutout was the second of Condon's 57-game NHL career. He was busiest in the third period, when Vancouver had 12 shots on net, including a breakaway by Hansen and a mad scramble in the last minute.

"I thought he was extremely composed," Senators defenseman Marc Methot said. "He came up big for us several times, especially at the end.

"It's not easy to just show up on a new team and get thrown into the fire like that. I thought he did a fantastic job."

The Senators, who gave up a league-high 33.8 shots per game last season, are responding to the demands of new coach Guy Boucher.

"I think we're night and day defensively now with our new system," Methot said. "Guys are buying in."

The Canucks, who won their first four games, are now scrambling for answers.

"We played a really good game and created enough chances to score at least a couple," Vancouver center Henrik Sedin said. "That's been the story so far this year. We have to realize it's only Game 11 and keep working, doing the same things. It's not a lack of chances.

"We're trying to build something here for the future. We're getting frustrated because we're not winning tonight. We're trying to play the right way. We know we're going to score goals. That's not a problem, but we can't change because we're not winning games right now."

Condon won his only other start at Canadian Tire Centre, a 3-1 decision as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. When it was asked if he liked playing in the building, Condon spoke about the bigger picture.

"I just like playing in the NHL, in general," he said. "When I wasn't playing in Pittsburgh, it was just a daily test of faith. I put the work in then and I knew I'd get rewarded for it.

"It's an honor to play in this league, and it's very hard, there's only 60 jobs. I learned that the hard way at the beginning of the year. I'm just thankful for the moment to have a home here. Just going to take it one day at a time."

His next opportunity will come Saturday, when the Senators host the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks will play the four game of a six-game road trip Saturday night in Toronto.

"We're playing better, but playing better is not always good enough," Hansen said. "You always take an awful game and two points versus a game like this and nothing to show for it. The consolation is we're playing well, we're getting chances, we're getting opportunities. Our goalies are still playing tremendously for us, giving us a chance to win these games even though we don't score. It's tough to ask them to be perfect."

NOTES: Senators RW Mark Stone missed the game with a neck injury sustained Tuesday against Carolina. He is listed as day-to-day. ... Stone was replaced by Senators F Max McCormick, who was recalled from AHL Binghamton. ... Senators D Chris Wideman was a game-day scratch with an upper-body injury. ... Senators D Fredrik Claesson was recalled from Binghamton to fill in for Wideman. ... Canucks D Christopher Tanev aggravated a lower-body injury that kept him out of three games on Monday in Montreal. He was replaced in the lineup by D Nikita Tryamkin. ... The Canucks scratched F Jack Skille and D Alex Biega.