Devils come out flat, get shutout by Flyers in opener

Hoping to avenge the 2009 opening loss to Flyers, the Devils did quite the opposite by showing zero offense, just like they did early last season. Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds scored the goals by beating the Devils 3-0. New Flyers ace goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves in the shutout. Marty Brodeur was arguably the Devils best player in the losing effort making 26 saves on 29 Flyer shots.

The most depressing aspect was that the power play continued to be suspect, going 0-5 and allowing 2 short-handed breakaways, both turned away by Brodeur. Rookie defenseman Adam Larsson played well despite being a -1. The Devils play host to the Carolina Hurricanes today at 1, and will rely on Johan Hedberg in net.

Devils trade center Dave Steckel to Toronto Maple Leafs, to sign Petr Sykora

The New Jersey Devils have traded faceoff expert Dave Steckel to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 4th round draft pick in 2012. Steckel's trade clears up a roster spot for camp tryout Petr Sykora to return for a 2nd stint with the Devils. In 18 games for the Devils since the trade from Washington, Steckel has just 1 goal and nothing else.

Sykora is expected to be signed to a contract tomorrow by the deadline to finalize 23 man rosters and be under the Salary Cap. Sykora's first tenure with the Devils was from 1995-2002 followed by stints in Anaheim, the NY Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild. He won the cup with the Devils in 2000 and one with the Penguins in 2009. He has 302 goals and 375 career assists in 935 career games followed by a +54 career rating. Sykora is expected to start the year on one of the Devils top 2 lines most likely with Parise and Elias.