17. april 2009 / PATRIK ELIAS GETS ASSIST BUT DEVILS FALL IN OVERTIME

The Devils lost a tight battle Friday night as they dropped Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime. New Jersey began the game as they left off in Wednesday's convincing 4-1 victory. Dictating the pace and applying consistent pressure paid off once again as Zach Parise netted his second goal of the playoffs with a deflection off of Paul Martin's point shot on the powerplay a little over 10 minutes into the hockey game. Patrik Elias was credited with the secondary assist, his second point in two playoff games. The Devil's good fortune wore off however when Eric Staal cashed in on an odd rebound from a wide shot from Ray Whitney. Whitney's shot caromed off the boards and onto Staal's stick who was alone in front with just 24.7 seconds to play in the first period.

The game remained tied until Carolina's Tim Gleason scored at 2:40 into the first overtime period. "Tonight's game was very balanced,” said Patrik who had four shots on the night. “The difference between the first game and this one was that Carolina played a much more physical hockey game.”

The Devil's powerplay has gone 1 for 10 in the postseason thus far, which is an issue Patrik believes is an important one to turn around. “We need to improve on the powerplay and create more scoring chances,” he said.

With the series now tied 1-1, Game 3 will take place in Raleigh on Sunday. Patrik and the Devils are aware of the task at hand. “The next two games on the road will be difficult ones, our opponent will certainly play aggressively with a large supporting audience so we will need to stabilize their onslaught in the first five minutes, take the initiative and get the game under control,” Patrik added. (Dan Altano)