MONTREAL – More than a month since his last bout, Devil enforcer Krzysztof Oliwa says fighting takes a back seat in his game.
“When I’m getting ready for a game, the fight part is the secondary part in my head,” said Oliwa, who entering last night against the Canadiens had not taken a fighting major since Jan. 19.
It is one of hockey’s axioms that enforcers sometimes forget how they reached the NHL, and until they remember, they risk leaving it.
Oliwa’s last fight came one game after he scored a game-winner, with his mother in the stands, watching him live in the NHL for the first time.
The Polish left wing says his mother’s visit had nothing to do with his fighting hiatus.
“The way our team plays, and the teams we’ve played, the situation hasn’t indicated fighting,” Oliwa said.
Oliwa leads the Devils with 134 penalty minutes, but lately, they have been unnecessary minors that left the Devils short-handed. His teammates would prefer he piled up minutes with majors.
“Fighting in the NHL is not a premeditated thing,” Oliwa said. “It happens during the game, between players, to get something going, or to send a message. Right now, it’s getting towards the end of the year, and everyone is going as hard as they can. Everyone is watching themselves.”
While Oliwa was refraining from fights, Denis Pederson, Scott Gomez, Lyle Odelein, and Scott Stevens had taken up the slack.
“Maybe I haven’t fought in a month. That doesn’t mean I won’t fight again,” Oliwa said. “But I’m not thinking that I have to go out and have a fight just because I haven’t had one in a month.”
Last night, the Devils found themselves out of the league lead for the first time in more than a month. They trailed St. Louis by a point as they sought to end their season-longest three-game winless streak.
There seemed to be an undercurrent of “so what?” about being No. 2 for the first time since Jan. 15.
“This team has proven it can win in the regular season, even though it hasn’t won a Presidents’ Trophy. There are other trophies that are more important,” Bobby Holik said.
Losers of two straight, the Devils were running into a red-hot Canadiens team that had won six straight to rise into contention for a playoff berth.
The Devils had to play without Jason Arnott (flu) for the second straight game, and Sergei Nemchinov again took his place between Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora on the top line.
“I think this is the first time in my career I’ve been on a first line,” said Nemchinov, who centered for Mike Gartner on the Rangers. “I’m just enjoying playing hockey. It’s a different kind of game, playing with those two, because they move the puck so well.”
Looking to snap their 0-2-1 slump, the Devils were counting on Nemchinov to provide scoring, particularly since the Canadiens had only given up three goals in their last five games.
Devils play host to Leafs tonight, and Chris Terreri may start for the second time in three games … Denis Pederson and Sheldon Souray were expected to sit out … Jeff Hackett had won five straight for Montreal, while Jose Theodore turned in a shutout of Carolina inside Hackett’s personal string.