Elias practices, but won't play vs. Isles

Patrik Elias skated this morning for the first time since he was hit in the left knee with a Sheldon Brookbank shot a week ago in Minnesota, but he will not play in Friday's game against the Islanders.

Devils coach Brent Sutter also doubted if Elias would play Saturday in Pittsburgh.

"He needs a couple of days, a couple of real good days of practice," Sutter said. "He definitely won't play tomorrow and I'd say he's questionable for Saturday."

After coming out early to test his knee for a few minutes, Elias practiced in Jay Pandolfo's usual spot at left wing on the line with John Madden and Brian Gionta. "I played good defensively today," Elias joked.  Pandolfo has caught the same flu bug that hit Elias earlier this week, but played through it Wednesday against the Rangers and Sutter thinks he'll be able to play against the Isles.

"I think he's going to be fine," Sutter said. "We'll see what he's like in the morning, but he said he felt a lot better this morning. We just wanted to give him the day off and let him recover a little bit from last night."

Elias said the flu hit him on Monday.

"I didn't feel good on Monday, so I took antibiotics," he said. "Tuesday, it got worse and I had a fever a couple of day and today was the first day I didn't have a fever. I'm just glad it didn't long, just two or three days."

Although Elias admitted his knee was "a little sore", he said his conditioning is more of a factor. "I haven't skated for a week," he said. "I haven't done any activity for a week, so I'm pretty winded just going through practice."

And he's still feeling some effects from his illness. "I feel crappy, but I'm happy I went through it and sweat it out a little bit," he said.

Defenseman Bryce Salvador did not practice today and will sit out again Friday because of what the team is still calling "lower body soreness." Salvador was hit on the left leg by Minnesota's Todd Fedoruk a week ago and also took a shot off his left foot in Saturday's win in Colorado.

Sutter said he'd stick with the same six defensemen as Wednesday night. Martin Brodeur will start his 33rd game in a row in net - the second longest streak of his career.

Today's line combinations and defense pairs:

Forwards: Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner; Elias-Madden-Gionta; Zubrus-Rupp-Clarkson; Brylin-Pelley-Asham.

Defense: White-Mottau; Oduya-Martin; Vishnevski-Brookbank; Greene-Rachunek.

Comments

[tydurd]

I'm not questioning him or anything, but I can't recall hearing a player miss so much time after getting hit in the knee with a shot. It was the front of his knee that got hit wasn't it? Did it somehow not hit the knee pad portion (which is usually pretty thick) of his shin pad?? Does Brookbank have that hard of a shot that he can hit a guy in the leg pad and it knocks him out of the lineup for over a week? When its the foot or the back of the leg or some other less-protected area I can understand but this seems to border on the excessive.

Don't get me wrong, I love Patty. Its just tough watching this lineup that is offensively-challenged when fully healthy have to go without one of their best.

Hopefully the flu doesn't run through the whole team. :(

[Jim A.]

tydurd, Elias was trying to jump in the air when the shot hit him, and when his leg was bent, the pad moved, and he got hit in an unprotected area.

[TG]

Yes, Patrik's knee was bent when he jumped -- which he admitted he shouldn't have done -- so he got hit behind the padding. He had quite a mark on his kneecap after that game and had trouble walking for several days.

Anyway, the reason why he's not playing tomorrow is not his knee. He said the pain was "manageable" today. Now, the problem is he hadn't skated in a week and basically has to get some of his conditioning back before Sutter will let him play. Elias said he probably would have been able to skate yesterday if he wasn't ill, so it's not like the bruise kept him out that long.

[MoonDragn]

Just imaging someone hitting you with a sledge hammer right above your knee cap. Thats about what it feels like

[tydurd]

Thanks for the clarifications.

That just shows you what a high level of conditioning these guys operate at that one week off the ice would set his conditioning back.

Definitely not worth taking chances with any of the regulars at this point of the season.

[MikeP]

why doesn't Sutter want to play Rachunek against the Isles ? We need a little more offense from our blueline, since our forwards aren't generating anything. Sit either VV or SB

[MikeP]

why doesn't Sutter want to play Rachunek against the Isles ? We need a little more offense from our blueline, since our forwards aren't generating anything. Sit either VV or SB

[Devilswede]

We're a first place team, sure...but what the hell is Sutter thinking?! He's keeping Brookbank and Vishnevski in there after the game they had last night?! It's ridiculous! Rachunek looked great but somehow got benched again. He's much better than Brookbank and Vishnevski...

We need Patty back...badly! Our offensive creativity is screwed without him in the lineup.

[nick]

brookbank still in..? UGH, what is Sutter thinking? It was his fault they Rangers tied the game..

Im happy to see Vish still in the lineup, I think hes been playing well and really stepping up the physical game vs the rivals (and every other team, actually).. his problem is he takes himself out of position to make a hit far too often

[nick]

brookbank still in..? UGH, what is Sutter thinking? It was his fault they Rangers tied the game..

Im happy to see Vish still in the lineup, I think hes been playing well and really stepping up the physical game vs the rivals (and every other team, actually).. his problem is he takes himself out of position to make a hit far too often

[Jim A.]

Where's Vrana? ;)

[Gunther]

Like it or not, this is the collection of defensemen we're taking to the playoffs. It's in the best interest of the team and for Brookbank's development that he experiences those failures now, rather than in the playoffs where it's more costly.

Rachunek may have more mobility than Brookbank, but Sheldon's size and physicality will be a plus in the playoffs, and I think the difference in the point shot betweeen him and Rachunek is negligible. I've never been sold on Rachunek as anything more than a stop gap anyway.

[Falcone]

Sheldon's a necessity for our D because of his size. Our D gets pushed around alot and Colin can't fight any more, so Sheldon's got to be that guy.

We'll miss Patty. We could use him right about now.

[Me]

Nick Palmieri was assigned to Lowell today. Just thought I'd throw it out there since he seemed to be topic of conversation around here.

[KB]

Personally - Im glad to see Vish playing. We have NO defensemen that doesn't make any mistakes, but I feel Vish and Whites playoff expierence is gonna be important in two weeks.
But I can't for the life of me understand why Brookbank's playing. That mistake last night drove me nuts.

I'm also absolutely amazed at how well Martin played last night. Thats the first time I can remember seeing that kind of intensity from him. Hopefully he carries it into the playoffs.

[AreJay]

That play by Vish and Brookbank was pretty terrible. It cost the Devils the win.

But it was also the only mistake the entire team made on that side of the puck, and the fact this seems like the worst offensive club I've seen in my 20ish years as a fan is more indicitive to last night's defeat than anything else.

Still, I figured Rachunek would get in for Friday, because, well... yeah, the transition game is terrible beyond words and Brookbank or Vishnevski aren't going to help that.

This is why I wish Lou was able to acquire a spare forward at the deadline. See what happenes when you take Elias out of the line-up? Have to hope the goaltender lets in a few stoppable shots, like Theodore in Denver. Holik... anyone... would be a huge help right now, and I even think Holik is a shell of his former self.

[scotty c]

let brookbank play, he is gaining confidence and yanking him out will kill all that, i said this before, think oduya in the begining of the season playing through the tough times and now, we need a big guy in there with a heavy shot (just dont hit anyone else on the team with it sheldon) i actually think oduya and brookbank would make a good combo next year, karl looked good but he was playing with a stay at home monster in salvador, i dont want to imagine karl and vish together, one gets caught pinching in while the other is chasing some check ... besides i dont see either of those 2 on the team next year, lets see how brookbank responds

[95devils]

In hindsight, to bad Lou didn't allow elias to go to the rangers and they would have been stuck with this guy. If he would've went to the rangers maybe we could've kept Gomez with the extra money. Elias misses atleast 5 games a year due to the flu, i've never seen a person get so many different occurences of the flu in the same year. Something is not right with Elias, his immune system is not where it should be, and it must be related to his hepatitus battle. Does anyone think he possible lost some strength that he had before he got sick and maybe this is why his game is a step below where it was?

[MikeP]

95devils, a little out of line with Elias. His immune system isn't as strong as other players due to the Hepatitis he contacted while playing in Russia during the lockout. I think he takes quite awhile to completely recover from that. Besides, Elias isn't the only one suffering from the flu, other players around the league have come down with the bad strain. We definitely could have used Patty's skills in the shootout the other night, I just hope that there's some way he can play Saturday night in Pittsburgh, otherwise we'll have no chance against the Pens.

[MikeP]

95devils, a little out of line with Elias. His immune system isn't as strong as other players due to the Hepatitis he contacted while playing in Russia during the lockout. I think he takes quite awhile to completely recover from that. Besides, Elias isn't the only one suffering from the flu, other players around the league have come down with the bad strain. We definitely could have used Patty's skills in the shootout the other night, I just hope that there's some way he can play Saturday night in Pittsburgh, otherwise we'll have no chance against the Pens.

[MoonDragn]

Again I would like to point out that mistake was Vishnevski's not Brookbank's. Vish was out of position and Brookbank had to cover for him. He got tricked by Drury backing up and didn't cover him.

Theres a reason why Vishnevski has a -8 +/- rating while Oduya and Martin have +22 and +21

[Chris K.]

WHile we are talking defense...I'm sure everyone is getting sick of it...I'd like to throw this out. I still believe that Andy Greene has the most potential down the road for the Devils of any of these guys. What he lacks in size he makes up for in skill (arguably the best passer of all the d-men) and brains, in spite of his occasional rookie mistakes. If VV and Rach won't be there after this year, why isn't he playing these days. GIven the ice time, I have no doubt he's a 3 or 4 d-man.

[JJ]

95, you're just dead wrong. There was plenty of $ to sign Gomez, he wanted to play for the Rangers. Don't believe anything else. He couldn't wait to leave the Devils. Elias has arguably been the best forward on the team since the All-Star break. If he "lost strength" how do you explain that? He also statistically had the best stretch of games in his career when he came back from being sick. Try running wind sprints after having the flu and then you'll know how it feels to go through the workouts it takes to get into hockey shape. Playing center is also more physically demanding than wing because of the added defensive responsibility & extra skating. With back to back games it's prudent to rest him one more game even if it limits our offense against a weakened and disheartened Isles team tonight. Rather than have him at 80% in both games we'll have him closer to 100% Saturday vs. Pitt.

[PariseIsGod]

I dont understand why we give a guy like brookbank another shot after blowing such a huge game for us on wednesday. BRING BACK RACHUNEK!

[95devils]

Your right, Gomez wanted to go to the rangers but with limited cap space we only offered Gomez a one year $5mm contract going into the 06-07 season. What if Lou offered him 6 years 36mm at that point? comparable to what Elias got? Then what happens? does gomez risk turning down guaranteed money with the hopes the rangers make him an offer? JJ you can throw statistics out there about what Elias has done over the second half of the season but admit it. Elias is not the 95 point player he was a few years back nor was he the player we saw when he came back in January and played for the last half of the season. He scored sixty something points last season and might get 60 points this season. This kind of production satisfies you? I'm not sure whats worse at this point the flu or his knee but elias could've made a difference vs the rags. It bothers me to see this guy missing 4 games down the stretch with his 3rd flue of the year.