By his namesake’s holiday, Patrik Elias already had something to celebrate.
So did his Devil teammates, who finally didn’t have to hear they hadn’t had a 30-goal scorer for five seasons.
It was a remarkable stat, made all the more surprising by the Devils’ three straight Eastern Conference titles without a 30-goal man.
Elias put an end to that situation Wednesday by scoring his seventh power-play goal of the year in a 3-2 loss to Dallas, becoming the first 30-goal Devil since Stephane Richer (36) and John MacLean (37) reached that level in 1993-94. New Jersey hasn’t had a 40-goal scorer since Claude Lemieux had 41 in 1991-92, and there has never been a 50-goal Devil. Perhaps that will change under YankeeNets, who announced the July purchase of the team Thursday.
Elias is happy enough to be a 30-goal man.
“It feels really good after scoring 18 and 17 the last two years,” said the winger, who turns 24 April 13.
“I didn’t think I could score 30. My goal was to score 20, so this feels great.”
Not only is Elias leading the Devils in goals, he entered last night’s game against the out-of-it Lightning tied for the team scoring lead with Scott Gomez at 61 points
Elias sat out the first nine games of the year in a nasty contract battle, reluctantly signing a three-year deal worth a total of some $2.2 million, and has played 10 fewer games than Gomez this season.
After rejoining the team, Elias immediately went into a drought, scoring only one goal in his first 18 games of the season. Since Dec. 14, however, he scored 29 in 43 games, with 53 points in that span.
Elias reached 30 when many other candidates didn’t, including Dave Andreychuk, Doug Gilmour, Steve Thomas, Bill Guerin, MacLean, Richer, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay and Petr Sykora.
“We’re playing a little differently now. For me, it’s different. And our line, we understand each other,” Elias said. “When I was getting closer, I believed we could do it.
“It feels good to be the one that could score 30 goals.”
He also put an end to the 29-goal wall of the past two seasons.
“Last year, and the year before, it was Petr and Bobby, especially Bobby going 16 games,” Elias said, recalling that Sykora last season, and Holik the yaer before, each finished with 29 goals. Holik went goal-less for the final 16 games of the regular season, and the next six in the playoffs.
The arrival of Alexander Mogilny may cut into his scoring opportunities, particularly on the power play, so Elias made the most of his chance.
Devils play host to Panthers tomorrow night and Carolina Tuesday. They visit Isles Friday and Leafs next Saturday … Steve Kelly was expected to make his Devils debut last night. He was a first-round (sixth overall) pick by the Oilers in 1995.
