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) – The Senators have been cemented in sixth place in the Atlantic Division every day but one since October 13. Even then, Ottawa moved up to fifth and was just a point ahead of Montreal. It has been an inconsistent start to the season for the Senators. They have not won more than three straight games yet this year. Ottawa defeated Florida on the road December 3 but dropped the prior two games at home against Vancouver and Detroit. The Senators have a 4-6-0 record in their last ten games and an overall record of 11-13-4. On the bright side the Senators are one of two teams in the league without a reported injury. After a tough month of November Craig Anderson opened December with a win last night. He is inching back towards .500 with a 7-8-2 record. On Monday Ottawa recalled Mike Hoffman from Binghamton and reassigned Mark Borowiecki and Derek Grant to the American Hockey League. Hoffman was leading the B-Sens with 11 goals and 15 assists in 21 games. His 26 points rank second among all AHL players in scoring. Hoffman played over 13 minutes last night with Ottawa including nearly four minutes of power play time. Borowiecki had recorded a goal and 48 penalty minutes in 13 games and Grant had a pair of assists in 20 games.

Binghamton Senators (AHL) – Binghamton has been consistent and strong through the first 21 games this year. The Senators have yet to lose more than two consecutive games thanks to a stout rebounding quality and solid team defense. They remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 14-6-1 record. Binghamton’s 29 points knot them at the top of the East Division with rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Since suffering his first defeat in over a month on November 23 Nathan Lawson has been given time to rest. Rookie netminder Andrew Hammond has played in three of the last four games and performed well in his relief duty. Hammond suffered a shootout loss on Saturday, which snapped his personal five-game winning streak. The Bowling Green University product has a 6-3-1 record, 3.14 goals-against-average and a .904 save percentage in his first pro season. On Monday Binghamton received defenseman Mark Borowiecki and center Derek Grant from Ottawa, but lost its captain and leading scorer Mike Hoffman who was recalled to NHL. Also on Monday Ottawa reassigned Troy Rutkowski to Elmira from Binghamton for his third ECHL stint this season. The rookie defenseman had one goal in eight games with the Senators.

New Jersey Devils (NHL) – Following its California road trip New Jersey returned home and dropped two games at the Prudential Center. The Devils went on the road November 29  to Raleigh and exacted revenge against the same squad that defeated them two nights prior. New Jersey built off the victory with a 1-0 overtime win against Buffalo at home the next night. Cory Schneider earned his second shutout of the season with his 15-save performance. He is 4-5-3 with a 1.72 goals-against-average and a .927 save percentage in his first year with New Jersey. The Devils remain fourth in the Metropolitan Division with an 11-12-5 record. However, injuries continue to bog down the Devils with Ryan Carter and Adam Larsson joining Ryane Clowe, Stephen Gionta and Bryce Salvador on the injured reserve list. Anton Volchenkov and Adam Henrique returned from injuries and each added an assist in Monday’s loss at Montreal. First-year defenseman Seth Helgeson was recalled by New Jersey on Thursday and joined fellow rookie Jon Merrill on the blueline. New Jersey also recalled center Tim Sestito on Sunday and left winger Reid Boucher today. Boucher and Sestito ranked second and third on the Albany Devils in scoring.

Albany Devils (AHL) – Albany had a successful month of November (7-4-1) end with an exclamation point. On Saturday the Devils tied a franchise record with eight goals in an 8-6 victory against Bridgeport. Tim Sestito notched a goal and three assists, Stefan Matteau scored twice and added an assist, and Mike Sislo scored two goals and added two helpers. The last time the Devils scored eight in a game was December 27, 2008 against Providence. At that time the Devils were located in Lowell, Mass. After Saturday’s high scoring victory Albany maintained its fifth place spot in the Eastern Conference with a 12-7-2 record. Due to New Jersey’s injury bug Albany has been picked of numerous contributors. Defenseman Eric Gelinas was recalled on October 28 and has played himself into a steady role in the NHL. Rookie blueliners Jon Merrill and Seth Helgeson were recalled to New Jersey as well. Most recently Tim Sestito and Reid Boucher were recalled to the parent club. Raman Hrabarenka will most likely see an increased workload with the loss of Merrill and Helgeson. The Belarus native has assists in two straight games and three in the last four with Albany. He currently has five assists in ten AHL games this year. Riley Boychuk has one goal in seven games with the Devils since New Jersey reassigned him from Elmira on November 2. Harry Young has seen action in one contest since he was reassigned by New Jersey to Albany from Elmira on November 16. Artem Demkov was loaned from the Elmira Jackals to the Albany Devils yesterday. Demkov, who led the Elmira Jackals with 10 goals and 12 points, has received the first promotion to the AHL in his career. He attended training camp with Albany this year.