The Devils’ Milestone Man celebrated his 1,000th game in appropriately grand fashion, prompting a prophesy for hockey’s highest honor.
“One day he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame,” teammate David Clarkson predicted after Patrik Elias led the Devils to a 5-2 triumph over the Panthers at Prudential Center last night, notching a goal and two assists.
Elias owns all the Devils’ scoring records: 349 goals, 504 assists and 853 points in the regular season, and he has 40 goals, 77 assists and 117 points in the playoffs. It’s a remarkable resume on a team that has had so many great players contributing to so much success.
“It was a special night for me. I’m glad it worked out and we got a win. We needed it,” Elias said. “You’re going to remember it even if you lose, but I’ll take the win.”
The fans gave him a standing ovation after he emerged from the tunnel as first star of the game, but it didn’t seem like Thanks For The Memories because he is leading the Devils in points after having done so in seven previous seasons.
“I have a few more years in me,” Elias said.
His younger teammates only could marvel at Elias’ career.
“It’s a lot of hockey, and a lot of good hockey,” Zach Parise said. “He put on a show and came through with a big game.”
Elias has more than proven himself to his latest coach, always a question in pro sports, especially for Elias, who once was stripped of the Devils’ captaincy by Brent Sutter.
“He’s a great pro, and in typical Elias fashion, he played a great game on a big night,” coach Pete DeBoer said.
DeBoer said it’s difficult to imagine what 1,000 games requires.
“My first year in the NHL, what I couldn’t believe was the grind, the travel, the nightly battling,” DeBoer said. “I don’t even put my equipment on, I stand behind the bench. I’m amazed at guys with that type of longevity, and not just longevity, but playing at the level he plays at.”
Elias already had scored his 349th career goal, slapping home an on-edge puck from the slot, when he set up Ilya Kovalchuk to break a tie in the third period. He notched his 853rd career point with another assist on Parise’s empty-netter after Kovalchuk had scored into a vacant net, shorthanded, 20 seconds earlier.
Kovalchuk had words with Krystofer Barch on the Panthers bench at the end of the second period, after Kovalchuk objected to a hit from Dmitry Kulikov. Barch had scored his first goal as a Panther in his first game back from a suspension for allegedly asking Montreal’s P.K. Subban — who is black— if he had slipped on a banana peel.