Throughout his career, the Devils have relied upon Patrik Elias's experience and ability to perform down the stretch.  He carried the team yet again last night.  Elias’s goal with 58 seconds left in overtime boosted New Jersey (26-35-7) to a 2-1 decision over visiting Tampa Bay (39-23-6) at the Prudential Center and, more importantly, sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

Competing in front of an announced attendance of 15,670, the Devils outshot the Lightning 33-22, dominating many aspects of their fourth and final meeting of the season (3-1).  They also earned a 34-20 edge in the faceoff circle, yet failed to score on five power plays.

Making his return to center, Danius Zubrus won 5-7, while Elias captured 11-19 and John Madden's 70 percent rate, 14-20, led all skaters.

The Devils also allowed the Lightning to net the equalizer with defenseman Mike Mottau serving two minutes for hooking.

But, the Devils, who recaptured the Prince of Wales lead for the first time since Feb. 29, entered with poise and determination, while the Lightning played for pride, stuck in last place of the Eastern Conference.

Zach Parise opened the scoring in the first period, swatting home Elias’ backhand feed during a 2-on-1.  Brian Gionta, who made the initial pass to Elias, earned the secondary assist on Parise’s team-leading 28th at 12:16.  Gionta’s assist extended his scoring streak to three games.  He also tallied the Devils’ second goal, the eventual game winner, in a 4-1 win at Toronto on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, Parise’s three goals in the last two games extinguished any lingering feelings of his recent struggles, including a four-game pointless spurt before notching two against the Leafs.

However, Mottau’s infraction led to the Lightning’s lone goal of the evening.  Michel Ouellet beat Martin Brodeur five-hole at 17:30 of the middle frame.  Dan Boyle and Alexandre Picard added helpers on Ouellet’s 12th, tying the score at 1-1.

After 40 minutes of action, the game remained even at one apiece.

In the final stanza, the Devils doubled up the Lightning 14-7 in shots on goal, but failed to take advantage of a four-minute double minor assessed to Dan Boyle.

Boyle initiated a fight with Parise, who scrapped for the first time in his youthful career.  Although Boyle deserved the win, pulling Parise’s shirt over his head, Parise landed some punches.  

Save One Save All: Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo stopped 31 shots, including a barrage in the third, keeping the Lightning alive for as long as possible.  But, they finally caved in, dropping another close call with a frail offensive display.

Also credit Devils defenseman Sheldon Brookbank, who, during a 1-on-1 move in OT, intercepted the puck from Boyle, deflecting it towards center ice.  

Elias found the loose puck in the neutral zone, carrying it into the offensive area alongside Parise on another 2-on-1 rush.  With the passing lane denied, Elias wristed a wicked shot past Ramo.  Brookbank earned the lone assist on Elias’ 18th, his third overtime winner this season and 14th OT winner of his career.  He remains one behind Jagr and Sundin for the NHL record (15).

Revitalized and re-energized, Elias has generated momentum at exactly the right time, managing 29 points in his last 29 games. 

The Devils improved to just 6-12-1 when not scoring on the power play (0-5) and allowing a power play goal (1-3) in the same game.

The Lightning rarely contested Brodeur, making his 27th consecutive appearance in net.  Brodeur finished with 21 saves, encountering seven shots in the first and third periods, 6 in the middle frame and just 2 in overtime.

With his 37th victory, Brodeur tied San Jose Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov for the league lead.  He also reduced his goals against average to 2.13 (third), and save percentage (.921) to a three-way tie for third place.

In my 2007-08 regular season predictions this past week, I awarded Brodeur the Vezina Trophy.  He has certainly overcome early season struggles (October, 3-6-0) to earn this precious honor, distributed to the league’s top goaltender. 

Madden, Jay Pandolfo and the checking line stifled Vincent Lecavalier (80 points) and Martin St. Louis (72 points), holding them to a combined -1 rating, 4 shots on goal and, most importantly, zero points.  Then again, I nominated Madden as the team’s top player in February for this exact reason.

 

New Jersey vaulted into first with 84 points, one ahead of idle Pittsburgh and Montreal, in what’s turning out to be a tight race to the bitter end.

In fact, only eight points separate the No. 1-seeded Devils and No. 8 Philadelphia Flyers, who have overcome a 10-game losing streak in February with points in 5 of their last 6 games (4-1-1).

If the playoffs started today, the Devils would host the Flyers in the first round.  The Rangers and Penguins would have also qualified for the postseason, providing the Atlantic with four playoff clubs.

The Devils quickly packaged their bags for an upcoming five-game road trip, beginning with the second half of their back-to-back stretch in Toronto.

Tampa, 1-7-2 in its last 10, finishes its three-game road trip in Columbus on Sunday afternoon.

Notes:

Tom Gulitti reported that Colin White missed the third period with body soreness due to a body check that dazed him in the second period.  Devils head coach Brent Sutter remains uncertain about White’s status for tomorrow night, Gulitti said.

Healthy:

With a full roster, Rod Pelley, Andy Greene and Vitaly Vishnevski remained out of the lineup as healthy scratches.

Defenseman Paul Martin’s aggravated injury left him on the sidelines for the third consecutive game.  The Star Ledger reported that Martin won’t compete in either contest this weekend, but hopes to return by Thursday when the Devils visit Martin’s home state of Minnesota.

“Martin's dad has 14 brothers and a sister (Paul has 90 first cousins) and the family has already asked for two suites and 40 extra tickets,” Rich Chere of the Star Ledger said.

Yikes.

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