Opening Night Stinker

Opening night could not have gone any worse. With a packed house full of enthusiastic fans ready to explode at the first sign of life, the Devils never offered them that opportunity. Getting blanked 3-0 by the hated Flyers brought back dismal memories of last season. The Devils could not muster up any sustained offensive attack. Their best chance came in the waning moments of the second period when the Parise - Elias - Sykora combination created a glorious opportunity that left Sykora at the side of the net with Bryzgalov no where in sight. Sykora sent the puck off the side-netting, the period ended and momentum along with it. Aside from the weak offense, their defense was the worst I've seen in my tenure as a Devils fan. Penalty Kill notwithstanding, they could not get the puck out of their zone. Numerous errant passes and failed clears resulted in a plethera of turnovers that surprisingly only amounted to a total of 3 goals against. Why? Because Marty Brodeur played like he was 25. He stopped 26 of 29 Flyer shots but performed way better than the stats show. He stuffed 3 breakaways and many other close-in chances. All-in-all it was a game that lacked continuity and flow out of the team in red and if not for their 39 year-old goaltender, the final score would have been much worse.