OVERTIME
Devils 2
Penguins 1
They are going from strength to strength, these Devils who are now going west.
Their balanced scoring, the stuff that helped build the longest unbeaten streak in the NHL this season, deserted them at the Meadowlands last night. But up popped their leading point-scorer for the past four straight seasons, and so they’ll travel with an 11-game overall unbeaten streak to go with their standing as the only team that hasn’t lost on the road this season.
Opening the scoring after 3:45 and finishing the Penguins with the 2-1 overtime winner, Patrik Elias last night looked more like the 40-goal scorer of three years ago.
“One of the best games I’ve seen him play all year,” Pat Burns said. “When he’s skating, he makes things happen.”
Elias had already missed his best chance of the night before he scored the opener, and ended up with eight shots on Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins’ 18-year-old goaltending phenom.
“I felt great. Every shift I had jump,” said Elias, whose pair nearly doubled his season total to five. “Maybe it was relaxing on our days off. I went to the city a few times, shopping, a couple of restaurants, a Broadway show.”
It was Elias’ second goal of the night that completed the sweep of their four-game homestand and erased the disappointment of having their shutout spoiled with only 26.8 seconds left in regulation. Forced to overtime in that fashion by the lowly Penguins was a humbling they’ve rarely felt lately.
“The way we [responded] and were able to win it shows character,” Burns said.
Elias put the Devils in front with the second of his five first-period shots, taking a 3-on-2 feed in the left circle from Christian Berglund and hitting the open side against Fleury 3:45 into play.
But despite boosting their 14-5 first period shot advantage to 22-10 in the second, that goal stood alone entering the third.
The Penguins finally tied the score with 26.8 seconds left in regulation. With Fleury on the bench and the Penguins enjoying a 6-on-4 edge, Alexei Morozov fired on Martin Brodeur from the right corner, Brodeur sticking the puck away, but directly to Dick Tarnstrom, who didn’t wait and didn’t miss.
Elias answered 39 seconds into OT, skating 1-on-1 against Drake Berehowsky. His wrister ticked Berehowsky’s stick and sailed over Fleury’s glove, and the Devils’ streak reached 9-0-2, their longest since they went unbeaten in 13 straight in 2000-01.
“[Failing to capitalize] cost us a couple of games early in the season,” Elias said, “but tonight it worked out.”