Patty's Day!

Two years in a row Patrick Elias has made this Irish holiday his day on the Ice. With a goal an assist last night he now has scored the past two years on St. Patty's Day. Last year he scored which propelled him past John MacLean as the all-time point scorer for the New Jersey Devils. Patirck Elias had an awesome game. He contributed strongly to the Devils fore check last as he assisted zubrus's breakaway goal. Elias stole the puck at Pittsburgh's blue and spun around and pass the puck off his backhand to Zubrus who was breaking through the center lane. It opened up the devils' scoring as they proceeded to score one more in the first and totaling 4 unanswered goals.

A huge welcome back to Paul Martin. We have missed you greatly, o and thanks for the goal. It will take some time until Martin is 100% however, scoring late in the first eases the questions and concerns. He took chances last night when the opportunity was available. In the second period Martin made some moves and transitioned into a temporary forward. This is a huge part of his game and an additional weapon to the Devils arsenal.

This team is coming together and playing strong as a group. Areas that need improvement are working themselves out. Last night the devils scored 2 in the second and did not let up a goal. It is a big moment for the team. As of late, the devils have been outscored in the second. Also their penalty kill has remained strong. The Penguins went 0-for-21 on the power play in the six games against the Devils this season. [reference Fire and Ice Blog: http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/]The devils defense also stayed strong against a high powered offense. Crosby over 6 games only had 1 goal and malkin none. The devils outscored the stanley cup champions 22-5.

Also over the past few games their defense has found the back of the net. It is important, as I've stated earlier in the season, that the Defense be involved in the offense. It makes this devils team extremely hard to play against if a goal can be scored by anyone.

Goodluck in Toronto!

-Ross