Toronto Maple Leafs' general manager Brian Burke pronounced himself satisfied as his club defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-0 with the help of its high-profile acquisitions.

"Part of my formula for building teams … is physical play, but also a high skill level," he told CTV Toronto on Wednesday.

"We picked up a player in Dion Phaneuf that I think brings both, and I think that people are genuinely excited about him. So I thought he would deliver on that, and you could feel it on the street yesterday and in the building."

Phaneuf, a Norris trophy finalist defenceman with the Calgary Flames two seasons ago, rocked numerous Devils with hard body checks. He even dropped the gloves with the Devils' Colin White.

This got the sold-out crowd of long-suffering Leafs fans rocking.

Phaneuf also contributed four of his club's 26 shots on goal, the most of any Leaf on the night. He was plus-one.

The 24-year-old Phaneuf and forward Fredrik Sjostrom came here in a trade for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White.

Sjostrom contributed an assist on the opening Leafs goal by Nikolai Kulemin. However, Martin Brodeur, the Devils' superstar goaltender, had the night off. Brodeur will likely be Team Canada's starting goaltender at the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Another big contributor was veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who arrived from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Jason Blake and goaltender Vesa Toskala. Giguere, who won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007, recorded a 30-save shutout.

The last newly acquired goaltender to do that was Ed Belfour, who was between the pipes for a 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins in October 2002.

On Wednesday, however, the memorabilia shop at the Air Canada Centre was busy cranking out Leafs jerseys with the number 3 and Phaneuf's name on them.

Before Leafs fans get too giddy, they should remember the club remains in 14th place with 47 points, making it the third-worst club in the NHL. Three Eastern Division rivals -- the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers -- all have 57 points. Tampa is currently in the eighth and final playoff spot.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon