There are only two questions remaining to be answered about the career of Devils center Patrik Elias: Will his No. 26 eventually be retired by the team and how many more Stanley Cups will he win before he calls it quits?

So why is Elias, 36, so nervous about these playoffs?

“I’m actually a little more nervous than I was in the early years,” Elias said, “because you don’t get too many opportunities to be in the playoffs. And, after many years, you know when the team has a good chance, a legitimate chance, to accomplish something. I think we feel that we can, so you don’t want to waste that opportunity.”

The Devils have believed in themselves as a team for some time now, but their performance in the postseason has given them the confidence that this could be a lengthy playoff run.

They do not think the Stanley Cup is out of the question.

“I think just the way we play this year and the way the locker room has been,” Elias said. “But everything has to fall in place. We’re still a long, long way. We haven’t done anything. But the feeling is good here.”

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Much of the credit for that goes to coach Pete DeBoer, who has kept his team a fresh as possible by scheduling days off and has maximized the effectiveness of four full lines.

“We’ve had four lines, six defensemen and we’ve gotten winning goals from seven or eight different people through the playoffs. Our team game is what is making us successful, not any individuals,” DeBoer stressed. “The guys are believing in what we’re doing but we’ve got a lot of work left to do. That was a very good (Flyers) team we just beat and we’re happy to get through.”

This is the 14th Stanley Cup playoffs for Elias. He has won two Cups.

“My first memory is I remember scoring on (Jocelyn) Thibault, if I’m not mistaken, in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens,” he recalled of 1997. “I did pretty well in that round. I think, looking back at those playoffs, I made them notice me a little more.”

His first goal came on April 22, 1997, in Montreal during a 6-4 Devils victory over the Canadiens in Game 3 of the first round.

Elias played in his 150th career playoff game Tuesday night in Game 5 of the conference semifinals at the Wells Fargo Center. He has 122 career points (43 goals, 79 assists).

It was his pass that set up Jason Arnott’s Cup-winning goal in Dallas on June 10, 2000, and his two goals on May 26 that year which won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Flyers.

So what stands as his favorite playoff moment?

"If I'm not counting the play on Arnie's goal, or the two goals in Philly, then it would probably us hanging around the hotel in Dallas afterwards," he said. "Having a beer, sitting around the table and just talking. You kind of have that feeling of relief that it's over."



These playoffs are far from over. Elias may be more nervous than ever, but some of his teammates are not.

“Look at Larss,” he said of 19-year-old rookie Adam Larsson. “I don’t know if Larss knows that it’s the playoffs. The older you get you experience different things. You know how one game, one play can change a series, change a game and change your life.”

This, Elias believes, has the potential to be a life-changing postseason for the Devils.

Rich Chere: rchere@starledger.com; twitter.com/Ledger_NJDevils