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) – Ottawa is poised to make a playoff push after a strong month of January. With one game remaining the Senators have earned at least one point in nine of 11 games this month. They still sit sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 23-20-10 record but are within striking distance of the final automatic playoff spot. Ottawa is just six points behind Toronto for third place in the tight Atlantic Division race. Craig Anderson continued his stellar career on Tuesday with a 34-save victory in Columbus. The win moved Anderson past Ron Tugnutt into second-place on the Senators’ all-time wins list with 73, leaving only Patrick Lalime ahead of him. Anderson improved his season record to 17-10-7 and now sports a 3.02 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage. Robin Lehner earned his first start since January 14 this past Saturday at Carolina. Lehner allowed five goals on 22 shots and was eventually pulled after the second period. The 22-year-old now holds a 6-10-3 record with a 2.71 goals-against-average and a .921 save percentage. Erik Karlsson leads all NHL defensemen with 50 points in 53 games. Stephane Da Costa scored twice in Ottawa’s win on Tuesday. Those were Da Costa’s first points of the season in eight games with Ottawa. Rookie Mark Stone is on injured reserve with an arm injury and Chris Phillips is questionable with an undisclosed injury. Patrick Wiercioch replaced Phillips in the lineup on Tuesday. The 23-year-old defenseman has 15 points in 33 games with the Senators this season.

Binghamton Senators (AHL) – All Binghamton does is score goals. The Senators have scored 31 goals in the last six games. Not coincidentally Binghamton has won five of its last six games and seven out of its last ten. The East Division leaders have scored 164 goals this season, which leads the AHL. On top of the pack is former Jackal Mike Hoffman. The 24-year-old is second among all AHL scoring leaders with 53 points in 42 games. Last night Hoffman had a career game with four goals and five points in the Senators’ 6-3 win at Worcester. Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded four assists for the second time this season and now has 24 points in 21 games with Binghamton. Goaltender Nathan Lawson returned from injury and made 26 saves for his 15th win last night. Defenseman Chris Wideman leads all AHL defensemen with 17 power-play assists and ranks second with 22 power-play points. Hoffman and Wideman rank second and third among all AHL skaters in power-play assists. Scott Greenham earned his first AHL victory on Sunday stopping 33 of 36 shots against Albany. Greenham was returned on loan to Elmira on Tuesday when Nathan Lawson returned from injury. Greenham is 6-11-2 with a 3.08 goals-against-average and a .908 save percentage in Elmira. Danny New has been a steady presence on Binghamton’s blueline in 19 games this season. The former Providence College standout has one goal and six points this season. Danny Hobbs earned his first AHL call-up on Tuesday but did not play in last night’s game. Hobbs recorded 11 goals and 22 points in 38 games with the Jackals this season.

New Jersey Devils (NHL) – New Jersey had the opportunity to participate in the Coors Light NHL Subway Series at Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon against the New York Rangers. The experience was one to be remembered but the result was one to be forgotten. Sure-fire Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur allowed six goals on 21 shots in two periods of work. Cory Schneider stopped four of five shots in the third period. The Devils’ brightest highlight came early on when Jaromir Jagr past his former teammate Mario Lemieux for sole possession of 10^th place on the NHL all-time assist list. Jagr now has 1,035 career assists and leads the Devils with 16 goals and 44 points in 53 games this season. The Devils traveled to St. Louis on Tuesday and fell to the Blues 3-0 a week after routing them 7-1 at home. Schneider started and stopped 22 of 24 shots in the losing effort. New Jersey dropped to 5-3-2 in its last ten games and 22-21-11 overall. The Devils are the only team in the NHL without a shootout victory. They are 0-8 in games that went to the skills competition. New Jersey currently sits seventh in the Metropolitan Division but is only three points behind Philadelphia for the all-important third spot in the division. Peter Harrold is the only Devil who remains on the injured reserve list as the team continues to improve its health. Joe Whitney was reassigned to Albany on January 25 after a two-day stint with New Jersey in his first NHL call-up.

Albany Devils (AHL) – Albany is in the midst of a minor swoon with losses in four straight games. The Devils still sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 23-14-6 record but are losing ground quickly. Leading scorer Joe Whitney returned on Saturday but was held off the scoresheet against Adirondack. Whitney earned his team-leading 21^st assist on Sunday but the Devils lost to Binghamton for the second time in three days. Whitney has 37 points in 42 games with Albany this year. Rookie Reid Boucher extended his point streak to seven games on Saturday but saw it come to an end on Sunday. Boucher’s streak dates back to November 20 before his call-up to New Jersey. Stefan Matteau’s goal just 1:09 into Friday’s contest was his first since December 4 against Springfield. Artem Demkov scored his first career AHL goal on December 4 and recorded six goals and 11 points in 22 AHL games prior his loan back to Elmira yesterday. Demkov scored a power-play goal and added a power-play assist last night in his first game back with the Jackals. The Minsk, Belarus native has 11 goals and 14 points in 18 games with Elmira this season. Fellow countryman Raman Hrabarenka has been held off the scoresheet since December 29 but still has three goals and 15 points in 29 games with Albany this season. Riley Boychuk and Harry Young earned their first points as Jackals this past weekend after being reassigned by New Jersey from Albany on January 18.