"It used to be all about the numbers with Ilya Kovalchuk .

Well, some of the numbers, anyway.

Mostly, goals. To some extent, assists.

Plus-minus? Uh, not really.

But Kovalchuk, a New Jersey winger who scored one goal and set up two others in the Devils' 5-2 victory against the Penguins Sunday at Prudential Center, is a different player these days.

He still generates some pretty nice offensive statistics -- 22 goals and 28 assists in 47 games -- but Kovalchuk seems to have a genuine appreciation for the value of working all over the ice."