Patrik Elias Continues to Be New Jersey Devils' Millenium Man

Patrik Elias played in his 1,000th career NHL game on Friday night, all spent with the New Jersey Devils. More importantly, Elias recorded a goal and two assists to lead the Devils to a 5-2 win over Eastern Conference rival Florida at the Prudential Center in Newark, a victory that pushed New Jersey back into a playoff position.

"That's a lot of good hockey he's played, and tonight he put on a show," said Devils captain Zach Parise afterwards at yahoo.com, after the Devils had rebounded from a 6-1 loss to Boston two nights earlier. "He did like he's done his whole career. He came through."

Elias has quietly gone about his business in his career in New Jersey around the likes of Martin Brodeur and Ken Daneyko, his predecessors in playing 1,000 games in a Devils uniform.

"I was pretty excited to play this game. Even if it's your first NHL game, I think the adrenalin is the same,"  Elias said at nj.com. "I'm more calm than I was 16 years ago when I played my first one."

There's no doubting what the franchise's all-time leading scorer has brought to the table, however, since first joining New Jersey in 1995-96. The Czech Republic native has collected 853 points in his career, with more than 500 assists to his credit, and is just one goal short of hitting 350, which could come tonight at Pittsburgh. No less than 96 of his goals have come on the power play, and he has also notched 77 game-winning tallies.

At age 35, and with 37 points in his first 39 games so far this season, Elias doesn't show any signs of slowing down any time soon, which is good news for a Devils team trying to get back to the postseason after a one-season absence.

Elias knows a little something about the playoffs, as well. He still holds the club playoff record with 23 points collected in the 2000 postseason, when he helped the Devils to the Stanley Cup. He was also a key player in their run to another title in 2003, and will look to be so again in 2012.