Goose egg city in home debut!

The New Jersey Devils controlled the pace and temp as they held the Philadelphia Flyers without a goal in the home opener for New Jersey's team with a 3-0 win at the Rock.
The offensive stars were the same as in the road opener as Travis Zajac opened the scoring in the first period (2) and David Clarkson added another (2) before the end of the first horn.
Ilya Kovalchuk beat Ilya Brzygalov on a penalty shot after Kimmo Timonen obstructed a breakaway chance by Kovy (Shorthanded no less!) in the second for the final goal.
Martin Brodeur picked up the shutout with 24 saves.
The Devils return to action Friday against Washington,which means the worst crappiest hockey announcers-boo....

Hell Raisers

1) The key in this one? The defense.
Yes,that underrated defense that just played lockdown hockey.
The Flyers rarely got great chances against Martin Brodeur and I thought the stay at home guys (Bryce Salvador,Anton Volchenkov and Mark Fayne) were very effective tonight...

2) Martin Brodeur was excellent in shutout 120.
Brodeur had some tougher saves in the first period,but other than a later Wayne Simmonds chance that Marty skidded to a stop,the Flyers did not have a tons of chances.
However,don't underestimate the average save,too many goalies take those for granted...

3) The penalty shot goal by Ilya Kovalchuk was a pretty piece of work as Kovy flipped the puck over Brzygalov;s shoulder as he dove to the ice.
Brzygalov's book is noted to have him as one that likes to go down,so was a sharp piece of scouting on someone's part!

4) Two late fights with David Clarkson against Wayne Simmonds and Steve Bernier battling Braden Schenn.
Nothing really gained other than letting the Flyers know that the Devils will not be pushed around,but fun nonetheless...

5) I was disappointed with two failures on the power play with five on three chances on two occasions.
The team is in transition with Matt Shaw taking over from Adam Oates in charge of the power play,so some adjustments are in order,but still somewhat dismaying...

Photo Credit:AP Photo