Elias Hat Trick Sparks Devils To Fifth Straight Win

It wasn't pretty. But the Devils will take it. Patrik Elias' first hat trick of the season helped lift New Jersey to its fifth straight win- a 6-4 triumph over Pittsburgh to sweep the home-and-home series. The victory gave the Devils 89 points, good for sole possession of sixth place in the East with six games remaining. They lead the seventh place Canadiens by two points but will play them twice up in Montreal to help decide where they finish. The Devils lead the season series 2-0, taking the first two games at home.

If they keep winning, there's still enough time to catch the fourth place Flyers, who are four points ahead of them. The Devils do have two games left against their Turnpike rivals which could prove vital. Each has taken three games thus far.

Elias' big night came on the heels of scoring a clutch redirection goal late to force overtime in their comeback 3-2 win at Pittsburgh Sunday. He also collected two assists to go with his three-goal outburst (11, 12, 13) for a five point night.

In order for the Devils to go far in the playoffs, they need their most accomplished forward to have more nights like this and take pressure off leading scorer Brian Gionta. Maybe Elias is getting hot at the right time.

"You obviously want to do well," Elias told the AP. "You want to score and you want to help the team. The main thing is to stay positive. It's hard. It's not easy."

While Elias was making Marc Andre-Fleury's life miserable, an equally as big a reason for it was Scott Gomez, who continues to play well in what is now a career season. With a goal and three assists, he passed his previous career high of 70 points set both in his rookie season ('99-00) and '03-04. For the season, Gomez now has career bests in goals (28) and points (73). The four points in the win gave him 14 in his last eight games.

"Patty took over right from the get-go," Gomez said. "We need that. That's his job. He's a goal scorer. He's had tons of chances in recent games. When he got that first one, you could tell he was on a roll."

It didn't start well early. On the game's opening shift, rookie Sidney Crosby beat Martin Brodeur only 27 seconds in for his 35th with a quick wrist shot between the pads. It was the only lead the Pens had and wouldn't last long.

Elias scored his first of the night 2:51 later when he deflected a Gomez pass past Fleury for a power play goal to tie it. The dynamic duo were just getting warmed up. Less than four minutes later during a four-on-four, Elias redirected another Gomez pass for his second of the night at 7:07. But in a helter skelter period by Devil standards in which each team traded chances, Andy Hilbert's wrister through a screen tied it with 47 seconds left.

In the second though, the Devils scored three unanswered to retake command. Improving rookie Zach Parise was credited with his 12th when his centering feed deflected off Eric Cairns' stick into the net at 2:55. He has three points in his last four games.

Gomez doubled the margin to 4-2 5:16 later when he took an Elias feed and ripped one upstairs for the Devils' second PPG of the night. Elias would pickup his seventh career hat trick when he took a Sergei Brylin pass and roofed a shot over Fleury inside the crossbar at 12:45. Things were going so well that Brodeur was credited with a secondary assist.

Hilbert cut it to 5-3 on a turnaround wrister for his second of the night at 17:22.

In the third, the Devils converted their third PPG of the game when Brian Rafalski one-timed an Elias pass past Fleury to cash a five-on-three. It was Elias' fifth point of the night.

Jani Rita concluded the scoring for Pittsburgh.

Notes: With Atlanta winning 5-2 over Florida, Devils magic number is six to clinch their ninth consecutive postseason. The ninth place Thrashers have 80 points and seven games remaining. ... Elias' seventh hat trick allowed him to pass John MacLean for the most by a Devil. ... With 25 saves, Brodeur reached 40 wins for an NHL record ninth straight season. ... Defenseman Paul Martin left the game after the second with flu-like symptoms. ... Rafalski finished with a goal and two assists. ... Devils (40-27-9, 89 pts) are at Montreal (39-27-9, 87 pts) Saturday night before returning home Sunday to host the Rangers.