After Patrik Elias's rousing debut in his return to the Devils two nights ago, people didn't think he'd be able to top that performance so quickly after the adrenaline of his return wore off.

Not only did he top his performance, but he was outright dominant, getting his first two goals of the season, along with two assists to lead the Devils to a crucial 5-4 win over Montreal that put them back at .500 and just one point out of the playoffs.

Tonight's contest didn't begin smoothly for New Jersey, as they allowed a goal a mere eleven seconds into the contest when Saku Koivu put a rebound past Martin Brodeur for his ninth goal of the season. Almost as quickly as the Habs took the lead however, the Devils would tie it back up again when Elias's slapshot was deflected past Jose Theodore for his first goal of the season. Brian Rafalski got the lone assist on Elias's goal, scored just 52 seconds after Koivu's tally.

Slumping Viktor Kozlov would break the tie at 14:15 with his ninth goal of the year, scoring on a slapshot after Scott Gomez found him alone in front of the net. Zach Parise also registered an assist on Kozlov's goal, which gave the Devils a lead they would not relinquish. Just a minute and forty seconds later, Scott Gomez would score on the power play when he shot the puck in off a Montreal defenseman's skate for his fifteenth goal of the season. Elias and Rafalski each registered their second points of the night on assists. Things got hairy for New Jersey again towards the end of the period when a defensive breakdown allowed a goal at 17:11 by Christopher Higgins for his fifth tally of the season, which cut the Devil lead to one.

Although the Devils only registered five shots in the second period, they would score on two of them. First, Elias scored his second of the game at 7:44 after assists from Gomez and Brian Gionta. Then at 10:05 Rafalski scored his fourth goal of the year, after assists from Elias and Richard Matvichuk, giving New Jersey a seemingly safe 5-2 lead after two periods.

Yet as has happened so often this year, a quick implosion suddenly turned the game upside down for the Devils. Michael Ryder's eighteenth goal of the season at 4:05 suddenly turned the momentum back in Montreal's favor. Predictably, the Devils gave up another quick goal when Andrei Kastsitsyn registered his first-ever NHL goal on a wraparound at 5:45, annoying the home crowd at the CAA. New Jersey's defense regained its footing from there and took over till some anxious moments in the final minute of play nearly proved disasterous. Still, the Devils would hold on for a hard-fought 5-4 win.