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Elias' OT goal caps comeback by Devils

Dec 6, 2007 - 4:42 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Patrik Elias no longer is the captain of the New Jersey Devils, but he still is one of their leaders.

Elias scored his second goal of the game at 3:16 of overtime, lifting the Devils to a 4-3 comeback win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

Zach Parise added two tallies and two assists for New Jersey, which extended its winning streak to eight games.

The captain of the Devils last season, Elias did not receive the nod this campaign from new coach Brent Sutter, who gave the honor to Jamie Langenbrunner prior to Wednesday's game.

"If anybody deserves it, it should be Jamie or Jay (Pandolfo) because they've been here a while and Jamie has accomplished a lot," Elias said. "He has been on winning teams. He's a great player and a great guy in the locker room, so it's well-deserved to him."

"Anytime there's a change, you want to make it as easy as possible," Langenbrunner said. "And it's a testament to (Elias) the way he responded, and it just shows his character and the kind of leader he is."

The Czech certainly did not let Sutter's decision affect his play against the Bruins, as he recorded just his second three-point performance of the season and first since October 13 at Atlanta, when he scored the game-winner with 28 seconds left in regulation.

"It was definitely his best game of the year, and not just because he got points," Sutter said. "Just the way he played and everything he did and every shift. I'm not saying he hadn't been playing well, but he took his game to another notch tonight."

From the right faceoff circle, Elias unleashed a wrist shot that sailed between the legs of defenseman Andrew Alberts and over the glove of goaltender Tuukka Rask, continuing the Devils' longest winning streak since they captured the final 11 contests of the 2005-06 season.

"I told the guys before we went on, 'Don't rush with the puck, take your time and come back, we'll make a couple of passes,'" Elias said. "All four of us got back and supported each other. It was perfect."

The Devils had not lost since November 16 and appeared headed for a long night as they allowed three goals in a span of 10:21 in the first period. They struggled defensively and gave Zdeno Chara, Glen Murray and Dennis Wideman plenty of time and space to put slap shots past Martin Brodeur.

The outburst appeared as if it would give Boston coach Claude Julien a successful return to New Jersey, but Parise and Elias dominated thereafter.

Elias and Parise began the comeback with goals nine minutes apart in the second. Parise, who scored a power-play goal, then forged a tie with less than six minutes remaining in the third, when he tipped defenseman Sheldon Brookbank's shot from the right point past netminder Tim Thomas, who left with 70 seconds to go in the period with an apparent ankle injury.

"The game turned probably at the start of the second period," Wideman said. "That's a good team. If you give them a lot of chances, they're going to score."

Before the game, the Devils named Langenbrunner their eighth captain in franchise history, but until the comeback, that appeared like it was going to be the only highlight for the Devils.

"I think he's definitely happy to be our captain," Brodeur said. "It's kind of nice for him. You want to play well for him, and we did."

Brodeur allowed three goals for the first time since November 14 but recovered from the horrid first period and finished with 23 saves.

"We'd love to have back the first 15 minutes of this game, but it doesn't work like that," Brodeur said. "We worked hard at our game, and it paid off."

Brian Gionta recorded his 100th career assist and Brookbank set up a pair of tallies for New Jersey, which rallied from a three-goal deficit to win for the first time since October 12, 2006 against Toronto.

"We do have that confidence right now that we can come back from 3-0 or whatever it is, and it showed tonight," said Parise, who registered his third multi-goal game of the season and second in three contests. "We didn't surrender, we didn't stop at all when we were down 3-0, and that shows a lot about the team."

Thomas stopped 28 shots before being replaced. He appeared to get hit by a teammate's skate with just over a minute remaining in the third, but the Bruins did not divulge any further information, saying Thomas would be re-evaluated Thursday.

The Bruins concluded their six-game road trip at 3-2-1 and also dropped to 7-3-1 in their last 11 contests. Before squandering the lead, they had a chance to take a 4-2 edge when Marc Savard's shot trickled past Brodeur before being knocked away with eight minutes to go.

"They get all their offense off turnovers, and they proved it again tonight," said Savard, who extended his points streak to a career-high 11 games with an assist. "We took the foot off the throttle."