The Devils believe right winger Petr Sykora escaped a serious hip injury when he was blindsided by Flyers defenseman Luke Richardson with 8:45 left in the third period. Sykora, who suffered a left hip flexor, had to be helped off the ice by teammates Bobby Holik and Jason Arnott, but he was able to walk out of the arena on his own.
"It's my hip. I'm only bruised, noting wrong. I'll probably be sore for awhile but we still have two weeks before the first game and i'm sure i'm going to be back before then," Sykora said. "I didn't see him. I had no idea he was coming. I was fighting for a rebound and you don't expect anyone to come from behind."
GM Lou Lamoriello said: "He's okay. There was no spleen injury."
Holik said he believed it was a dirty late hit and thought Richardson would be fined but on-ice officials called it a collision and did not penalize Richardson.
Daneyko went after Richardson, who was apologizing.
"He said they both had their heads down and colided. He's a physical player. When he doesn't fight, it's pretty surprising," Daneyko said. "To me, that means it was probably accidental."
Richardson said: "I was just trying to get back into position in my zone. I saw him and I don't think he saw me. At the last second, I know I just dropped my shoulder."