The New Jersey Devils headed to Utah on Friday to face the Mammoth for the first time since they revealed their new team name. On the heels of a stellar goaltending performance from Jacob Markstrom, they can now say they’ve defeated the Mammoth, as they gutted out a 2-1 victory.
Related: Devils Win With Jacob Markstrom Holding Mammoth to 1 Goal
Rough Special Teams Night Negated by Clutch PPG
Prior to tonight’s contest, since Oct. 26, the Devils’ PK% of 68.2% ranked 31st in the NHL, barely ahead of the Seattle Kraken (68.1%). Most of that damage was done recently: just eight games ago, they were still ranked 7th in the NHL. Now, they’re ranked 28th. They gave up a power play goal on Utah’s first opportunity after Dougie Hamilton took a tripping penalty.
Additionally, the power play mightily struggled: they started off with an 0-for-4 showing, including their third failed 5-on-3 opportunity in the last week. But you know what they say: Fifth time’s the charm.
On their fifth man advantage, they simplified things. Nico Hischier got the puck through and Stefan Noesen banged home the rebound. While there’s still reason for concern (the power play is just 2 for their last 23 — 8.7%), this could be a harbinger of what’s to come. They’re way too talented of a group — even without Jack Hughes — to click at a sub-10% clip.
Stefan Noesen gives the Devils a 2-1 lead 😈 pic.twitter.com/vSCEJvqqLW
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 20, 2025
The penalty kill also has something to build off as they killed off their last three penalties, including over a minute of a 6-on-4 for Utah to seal the game. Now they need to stack positive performances together, rather than just being a one-off.
Huge Bounce Back for Jacob Markstrom
When Markstrom — who came into the night with an .874 save percentage (SV%) — allowed a goal on Utah’s third shot — it was an alarming continuation of an eye-popping trend. This season, on average, it’s taken him just 6.4 shots faced to allow the first goal against.
The Daniil But shot, his first NHL goal, had just a 7.4% chance of being a goal. No pun intended, But…to Markstrom’s credit, instead of unraveling like it has in many recent games, he buckled down and stopped the next 30 shots. When all was said and done, he stopped 32 of 33 (.970%) for +2.82 goals saved above expected, per Moneypuck.
Markstrom had a SV% above .890% in a game just once in his first nine appearances (11.1%). Since then, he’s eclipsed that mark five of nine times (55.5%). Just like special teams, Markstrom will hope success comes more consistently now.
Points Matter More Than Underlying Numbers
According to Natural Stat Trick, at 5v5, the Devils had just five scoring chances. That was their lowest output of the season…by far. The next-closest was 14 when they got shut out by the Florida Panthers on Nov. 20.
Total scoring chances for the contest were 21-5 in favor of the Mammoth. There’s no question that the Devils would like better underlying results, but with a bunch of bodies out of the lineup, this should be taken with a grain of salt. Especially with Jack out, every standings point to stay afloat is so crucial. While they now sit in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division, they are just one point behind the Washington Capitals for second. That’s typical for this season’s parity within the Eastern Conference.
“[We’ve now won] four out of six. It doesn’t necessarily feel that way because our play hasn’t been something that we’ve repeated in back-to-back games … [but] it goes a long way for the team,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe to NJD.TV. “These are four tough points [we’ve earned on the road trip]. It’s not easy travel getting out to Vegas and back out here [to Utah] and it won’t be easy with a quick turnaround going back home. But you’re trying to buy some time, get some points, and I think we’ll get some bodies back when we get home for Sunday, which will be great.”
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 20-14-1 — will face the Buffalo Sabres at Prudential Center on Sunday (7:00 PM EST).
