Brian Elliott takes over as Ottawa Senators’ starting goaltender with Pascal Leclaire sidelined
Brian Elliott has saved the Ottawa Senators before with his stellar play in net. With a recent injury to Pascal Leclaire, he is being called upon to replicate the feat.
Leclaire played for only the first two minutes during the Senators 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, October 14. After being involved in collisions with two Hurricanes
players, Leclaire left the game with a groin injury. Elliott then took over, making 19 saves to earn the win.
Elliott’s relief appearance was his first of the season, as he has not seen any action since playing in the Sens’ final game of the pre-season.
“Sometimes, it’s easier just to hop in there when the adrenaline’s pumping to get the legs going,” Elliott said.
“Your alertness is high, but the guys did a good job keeping everything from the outside and I had to make a couple of saves early, just to get me in the game, and we went from there.”
The fact that Elliott has found a place for himself in the National Hockey League is something that has surprised many. He was drafted by Ottawa 291st overall in the 2003 entry draft,
thus making him the second-to-last player selected. As a result, many experts did not believe that he would ever play in the NHL.
Elliott made his big-league debut against the Atlanta Thrashers on October 10, 2007, filling in for an injured Ray Emery. He would go on to win the game with some stellar statistics to
his name – a goals-against average of 1.00 and a save percentage of .966.
After a couple of strong seasons in the American Hockey League, Elliott returned to action in the 2008-09 season, and quickly emerged as the team’s goalie of the future. He split the starting
duties with Alex Auld, who has since joined the Montreal Canadiens as their new backup netminder.
Elliott has played in 87 games so far in his NHL career, and has compiled a record of 46-26-7, along with a goals against average of 2.62 and a .907 save percentage.
Tags: