The Road To The Show Presented by Liberty Travel

By Jared Abbott for JackalsHockey.com

ELMIRA, N.Y. - As the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils, and the AHL's Binghamton Senators and Albany Devils, the Jackals are tasked with developing prospects throughout the organizations. The Road To The Show presented by Liberty Travel provides details on how those prospects are progressing.

Ottawa Senators (NHL) – New week, same result for the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa defeated Detroit Saturday but was stymied by Carolina on Sunday. The Senators remain sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 9-11-4 record. They are 5-5-0 in their last ten games and continue to perform at a lackluster level. Since making his return Nov. 12 Craig Anderson has gone 1-3-0 and continues to struggle to find his form of last year. Robin Lehner has shown strong flashes this season and has played three out of the last four games. He hasn’t fared much better and holds a 1-2-0 record in those three contests. Since receiving a call-up on Nov. 2 Mark Borowiecki has been a menacing presence on the blueline. He suffered a strained neck this past week and is questionable for Wednesday’s game. Offensively the most consistent production has come from the pairing of Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris. When Ryan was acquired in the offseason most expected him to play on the top unit with Jason Spezza. But Ryan and Turris have shown tremendous chemistry together thus far. With 20 points in 24 games Turris is well on his way to a career year. His career high is 29 points set in each of the past two seasons. Ryan is leading the team with 11 goals and is first among Senators forwards with 22 points.

Binghamton Senators (AHL) – Despite seeing their seven-game winning streak come to a halt on Saturday the Senators have been rolling. Binghamton is 8-2-0 in its last ten games and rebounded from the loss with a 5-1 victory Sunday at Hershey. The Senators remain fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 13-5-0 record. Nathan Lawson has been a wall in net for Binghamton this year. He did suffer the loss on Saturday, but that was his first defeat since October 19. He ranks in the top five among AHL goaltenders with eight wins and a .928 save percentage. Andrew Hammond has been a very solid addition as Lawson’s backup. The rookie has won four consecutive starts including a stellar 34-save performance on Sunday. Rookie defenseman Cody Ceci is proving why he was the 15th overall selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Ceci’s 15 points rank first among Binghamton’s defenseman and all rookie defensemen in the AHL. He ranks fifth among all AHL defensemen in scoring. Ottawa reassigned Troy Rutkowski from Elmira to Binghamton on Saturday three days after he was sent to Elmira.

New Jersey Devils (NHL) – New Jersey fell one goal short of doing something very few teams could boast about: winning three straight games on the road in California. Overtime victories on Wednesday and Thursday night against Anaheim and Los Angeles proved the Devils could win a physical, grind-it-out type of game. New Jersey was defeated by San Jose 2-1 on Saturday night and then returned home for a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg on Monday. The quick turnaround after a grueling California road trip led to a tired team on home ice. However, the recent success has boosted New Jersey to fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 9-10-5 record. On Thursday Jaromir Jagr tied former teammate Mario Lemieux for ninth on the all-time scoring list with 690 career goals. Jagr’s overtime winner extended his own NHL record of 18 overtime goals and tied Gordie Howe for first on the all-time game-winning-goal list with 121. Patrik Elias is back to full strength and has goals in New Jersey’s last two games. Rookie Jon Merrill was recalled by New Jersey on Monday and returned to the Devils lineup. Adam Larsson and Stephen Gionta missed Monday’s game with lower body injuries. Ryane Clowe, Anton Volchenkov and Bryce Salvador remain on the injured reserve list.

Albany Devils (AHL) – The Devils have been red hot of late with five wins in their last six games. Albany currently sits fifth in the Eastern Conference with an 11-7-1 record. The only blemish in a stellar run was a 5-3 loss at Springfield on Friday. That was Keith Kinkaid’s first regulation time loss since the opening game of the season on October 6. He has been purely dominant for the Devils posting a 7-2-1 record. His 1.97 goals-against-average ranks third in the AHL and his two shutouts are tied for the league lead. Jon Merrill returned and skated in three games for the Devils before New Jersey recalled him on Monday. Merrill had an assist during Saturday’s victory against Adirondack. Raman Hrabarenka has skated in eight games and logged two assists since he was reassigned by New Jersey to Albany from Elmira on November 5. Riley Boychuk has played in six games with one goal for the Devils since New Jersey reassigned him.