The months of December and January brought success and opportunity for Brian Elliott, Binghamton Senators goaltender.
Elliott, the starting goalie of the B-Sens’ 2008-09 season, was first recognized by winning the Reebok X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month award for December.
Throughout the course of his 11 games played in that month, Elliott posted a 7-2-0 record. In his nine complete appearances, Elliott allowed less than two goals in each game, a statistic made more impressive by considering that in six of those games he faced over 32 shots.
On Jan. 6, it was announced that Elliott would be the starting goaltender for the Canadian AHL All-Star team. However, his chances of playing in the game were replaced by another accomplishment: a call-up to the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
Elliott fell, 2-0, in his second-ever NHL game to the New York Rangers on Saturday, Jan. 10, but has since helped the Senators surge into the NHL All-Star break by winning three out of the last four games, with his only loss coming in a shootout.
Over these past five consecutive starts, Elliott only allowed more than two goals once and managed to keep NHL superstars such as Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals off the scoreboard.
On Jan. 15, Ottawa Senators goaltender Martin Gerber was sent down to the B-Sens for a two-week conditioning assignment. Gerber played a pivotal role on the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes 2005-06 Stanley Cup championship team. He collected 38 wins during the season and earned the Hurricanes the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, which guaranteed home ice advantage and lower-seeded opponents throughout the playoffs.
Gerber’s first game in a Binghamton uniform was a 6-4 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 16 — a team that the B-Sens have been struggling to defeat this entire season. His next outing was a 3-1 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but he countered the loss with a 3-0 shutout against Philadelphia the following night.
After Gerber’s two-week conditioning assignment has elapsed, it is uncertain if he will return to the Ottawa Senators or remain with Binghamton.
Since Binghamton University’s fall 2008 semester ended, the B-Sens have also been on a surge in the AHL, posting a 12-6-1-0 record over the last 19 games.
On Dec. 26, forward Denis Hamel scored two goals in a 3-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, one of which was his 250th career AHL goal.
Binghamton’s powerplay continues to lead the AHL with a 23.9 percent conversion rate, with forward Ryan Shannon scoring 20 points on the man-advantage.
The Senators will return home this Saturday for a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Springfield Falcons.