There have been times when the Devils’ six-time leading scorer has passed on shootouts, so Patrik Elias’ first such appearance of the season was in itself a sign of improvement.
After he came through with last night’s shootout winner, well, the Devils can’t hope enough that Elias signaled that he’s ready to resume being their top forward.
“I feel like the coach trusts me more, and plays me more,” Elias said after scoring the deciding goal in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Sabres in Newark last night.
“Absolutely, I trust him more. I trust him at wing, too. I’ve always had trust in him as a player,” said Sutter, who took away Elias’ captaincy in training camp, and was less-than-pleased with the 31-year-old’s start.
The Devils were trying to shake off blowing their lead with 1:47 left in regulation, giving up a 3-on-2 that shouldn’t happen. They’d taken the lead with Andy Greene’s power-play goal in the first and nursed that narrowest margin – “too long,” it turned out.
“Score one goal and you’re playing with fire,” Martin Brodeur said.
Jason Pominville completed the hard-to-believe 3-on-2 that forced overtime, and the Devils survived when Thomas Vanek hit the post with an open net. Then they went to the shootout, where the Devils are now 22-13 all time. They already had beaten the Sabres 2-1 in a shootout Dec. 28.
Brodeur allowed a goal to Ales Kotalik before Brian Gionta answered for New Jersey, and it came down to sudden death. Vanek hit Brodeur’s waffle, and it was up to Elias, who hadn’t taken any of the Devils’ seven shots in three prior shootouts. He skated in and put it past Ryan Miller’s stick.
“I said to myself ‘I’m not going to miss the net. If I’m not going to score, I’m at least going to get a shot off,” Elias said. “Last year, I had a lot of good opportunities, made the right moves, but just couldn’t finish it off.”
With Elias keeping it simple, the Devils triumphed again in Newark, where they have won 10 of 11.
“Thank God for shootouts,” said Brodeur, his team 3-1 there this season.
The Devils haven’t scored more than three regulation goals without an empty-netter since Nov. 30, and their failure to extend that lead cost them.
That lead vanished when the Sabres broke 3-on-2, with the Devils’ line of Travis Zajac, Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise caught up-ice. Jochen Hecht fed left wing to Clarke MacArthur, who looped behind Greene before passing across the goalmouth to Pominville, left free on right wing by Vitaly Vishnevski. Pominville hit the open net.
SHOOTOUT Devils 2 Sabres 1