Elias In Front
Elias is now the Devils’ leading scorer with 24 points. Ten of them have come in the last six games, eight of them in the five games that filled the first third of this month. Should he continue this torrid pace, he’s on track for a career high in points (perhaps breaking the century mark for the first time). But you get the feeling it’s more about winning and playing good hockey than individual statistics; the team is playing well.
The Bruins game can be summarized in two goals: Pandolfo’s off of a quick pass, when he didn’t quite have control of the puck but he fired before the goalie squared or the “D” collapsed, and Elias’ from an equally pretty pass. This is the hockey I love (to paraphrase Tretiak): passing, quick wrist shots, accuracy and forethought. A wrist rocket going top shelf is going to light the lamp more than the booming slap shot that looks and sounds great but misses wide.
Now it’s time for six in a row to shuffle off with Buffalo before a rematch with the bad news bears of Boston. With the games this exciting, and with Patrik firing on all of his dumpling-fueled cylinders, it’s worth getting in trouble at a staff meeting for catching the game webcast from the west coast.
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