CALGARY, Alberta -- While Brian Elliott has newfound confidence in net for the Calgary Flames, the Ottawa Senators will be without their starting goaltender for the foreseeable future.
After backstopping the Flames (3-4-1) to back-to-back road wins over the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on Monday and Tuesday, Elliott will attempt to keep his momentum going against the Senators (4-2-0) at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
Elliott, who the Flames acquired from the Blues on June 24 in exchange for a second-round draft pick (35th overall) in 2018 and a conditional third-rounder, started his tenure with the Flames with three straight losses before bouncing back to stop 54 of 57 shots he faced during Calgary's two wins earlier this week.
"I don't think I've felt bad the other ones too," said Elliott. "I just think we kind of beat ourselves the first few games. Now we're getting the picture of how we need to play each and every night. We played good road-style hockey and if we can bring that kind of hockey at home we'll be successful as well."
Meanwhile, the Senators announced on Thursday that goalie Craig Anderson has taken a leave of absence and that there's no timetable for his return.
"With the support of the entire organization, we've provided Craig with a leave of absence so that he can attend to a personal matter at home," said Senators general manager Pierre Dorion in a statement. "While we are uncertain of how long Craig may be away, he will continue to have our support for as much time as is needed. We will respect his privacy and will have no further comment at this time."
Anderson improved his record this season to 4-1-0 after making 22 saves to backstop the Senators to a 3-0 road win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. The 35-year-old veteran has also compiled a 2.95 goals against average to go with a .903 save percentage.
In his absence, the Senators will go with the goaltending tandem of Andrew Hammond and Chris Driedger, who was called up from the AHL's Binghamton Senators.
Hammond, 28, will get the start on Friday and is hoping to bounce back from his only previous appearance of the season, a 5-1 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 17 in which he stopped 20 of 25 shots he faced.
After going 20-1-2 in his rookie campaign with the Sens in 2014-15, Hammond went 7-11-1 last season and even spent a stint in the AHL in Binghamton where he had no wins to go with two losses.
In just 55 minutes of NHL action over the past two seasons, Driedger has made 21 saves without allowing a goal. The 22-year-old netminder, who starred for the WHL's Calgary Hitmen for three seasons from 2011-14, has never started or been the goaltender of record in an NHL game.
While Elliott played a starring role against his former team on Tuesday in St. Louis, Flames right winger Alex Chiasson told CalgaryFlames.com that he's looking forward to going up against his old squad at the Saddledome on Friday.
"It's always a little special playing previous teams," said Chiasson, who Calgary acquired from Ottawa in exchange for defenseman Patrick Sieloff on June 27. "I have a good amount of friends on that team, but when the game starts it's a game day just like any other day. That's part of pro hockey, really."
After starting the season on Calgary's fourth line, Chiasson has been elevated to play alongside center Sean Monahan and left winger Johnny Gaudreau.
"I know that it'd be nice to be on the scoresheet a little more, but at the same time it's a process of trying to stay focused mentally on that, do the good things and the rest of the stuff is going to come," said Chiasson, who has just one goal to show for his efforts through eight games with the Flames. "If I keep playing with those two guys, I think I can bring an element to that line that they don't have, and they can just play."
