Devils 8 – Sabres 2
These are heady days for the Devils. The Stanley Cup champs are scoring plenty and winning big. More important, their captain is now optimistic he’ll be back before the season ends.
“There’s progress, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Scott Stevens told The Post before the Devils trounced the Sabres 8-2 at the Meadowlands last night.
“I’m feeling better and increasing my workload,” said Stevens, out since Jan. 9 with postconcussion syndrome. “It’s nice to break a sweat. What I’d really like to do is split some wood.”
Instead, his teammates have been splitting defenses and filling the net lately. They raised their record to 13-8-2 without him last night, scoring seven or more for the second time in three games after failing to reach that figure in nearly three years, since March 27, 2001.
The Goal-Each-Game line of Scott Gomez, Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta continued its explosion with four goals and seven assists, raising its total to 11-14-25 in this three-game winning streak as Elias and Gionta each scored twice.
“That one line has been getting us going. Sometimes a team will feed off that. They’ve been on fire,” said Jay Pandolfo, who ended his 18-game goal drought with a pair.
It was a night of records for the Devils. Martin Brodeur became the first goalie in NHL history to post nine consecutive 30-victory seasons, passing Patrick Roy. And Elias set a team record with 11 points (6-5) in a three-game span.
“We’ve always been good at being able to win without key people in the lineup,” Stevens said. “That’s something other teams have trouble doing.”
They’ve outscored their last three foes 18-6, but their hopes to successfull7 defend their Stanley Cup surely depend on whether Stevens returns, and how well he plays.
After two weeks of near-total rest, Stevens was then limited to outdoor walks, but recently was given clearance to use the treadmill. If he continues symptom-free as he raises his pulse to 150 beats, he will seek clearance to use exercise machines.
The Devils are believed to be hoping he returns for the final couple of regular-season games, warmups for the playoffs.
“Anything’s possible,” said Stevens, who turns 40 April 1. “I’m taking it one day at a time, but what we’ve been doing is encouraging. I just want to get healthy and go from there.”
His usual partner, Brian Rafalski, notched his 200th NHL point by setting up Elias’ opening goal, 1:29 into play. Buffalo answered 33 seconds later on Derek Roy’s third.
Gionta put the Devils back in front at 16:13 with his first of the night. Pandolfo ended his drought with a short-hander at 18:04, before Buffalo completed the five-goal first on Maxim Afinogenov’s power-play goal with 55.5 seconds left.
New Jersey blew the game open in the second. Pandolfo added his second of the night and 11th this season at 18:16, followed by Rafalski’s fifth, with only 0.7 seconds remaining. Gionta chased Mika Noronen at 2:47 of the third, and Jeff Friesen greeted Martin Biron with his 14th 20 seconds later.
Elias completed the scoring with 4:26 left.
