On Saturday, Jan. 3, the New Jersey Devils will host the Utah Mammoth. The Devils are returning from a two-game road trip where they were shut out by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 30, but then beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Dec. 31. They’ll look to repeat this winning behavior today in front of their home fans.
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The Mammoth are currently on one of their East Coast road trips for the season. They just annihilated the New York Islanders 7-2 on New Year’s Day and will look to continue this performance against the Devils.
The season series began on Dec. 19, when the Devils beat the Mammoth 2-1 at the Delta Center. The Devils will have to play at their best level today to ensure they sweep the season series.
Devils Storylines
At practice on Friday ahead of this game, Paul Cotter exited the lineup, and Juho Lammikko entered. Per Amanda Stein, she confirmed Cotter will sit this game out, and Lammikko will play on the fourth line instead. Cotter was on the ice at practice, skating with Johnathan Kovacevic, so he doesn’t appear to be injured. Hopefully, this move benefits the Devils and doesn’t hurt them.
While Cotter was on the ice, Luke Hughes was not. It turns out this was just a maintenance day for him, and he will be in the lineup for today’s game. Dennis Cholowski skated with Brett Pesce at practice in Hughes’s absence. Cholowski will likely be a healthy scratch in this game.
The player to watch in this game is Connor Brown. He opened the scoring for the Devils in their first game against the Mammoth. Against the Blue Jackets, he recorded an assist. We’ll see if he can begin a point streak with this game. His last point streak was recorded on Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, when he scored two goals in two games. He’s due for another streak, and this could be the game that starts it off.
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 21-17-2
Top Scorers:
- Nico Hischier – 11 goals (G), 20 assists (A), 31 points (P)
- Jesper Bratt – 8 G, 23 A, 31 P
- Timo Meier – 11 G, 13 A, 24 P
- Dawson Mercer – 10 G, 14 A, 24 P
- Jack Hughes – 11 G, 11 A, 22 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 11-8-1, 2.52 goals-against average (GAA), .912 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 9-9-1, 3.32 GAA, .884 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Utah Mammoth
Season Record: 19-19-3
Top Scorers:
- Dylan Guenther – 20 G, 16 A, 36 P
- Nick Schmaltz – 14 G, 22 A, 36 P
- Clayton Keller – 13 G, 23 A, 36 P
- JJ Peterka – 15 G, 14 A, 29 P
- Mikhail Sergachev – 6 G, 23 A, 29 P
Goalie Stats:
- Karel Vejmelka – 17-10-2, 2.68 GAA, .896 SV%
- Vitek Vanecek – 2-9-1, 2.92 GAA, .879 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Jack Hughes — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier — Dawson Mercer — Arseni Gritsyuk
Ondrej Palat — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Juho Lammikko — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon — Colton White
Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Paul Cotter, Dennis Cholowski
Injured: Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, Marc McLaughlin, Simon Nemec, Johnathan Kovacevic
Utah Mammoth
Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — JJ Peterka
Lawson Crouse — Barrett Hayton — Dylan Guenther
Michael Carcone — Jack McBain — Daniil But
Liam O’Brien — Kevin Stenlund — Alexander Kerfoot
Mikhail Sergachev — Sean Durzi
Nate Schmidt — John Marino
Ian Cole — Nick DeSimone
Vitek Vanecek
Karel Vejmelka
Scratched: Brandon Tanev, Kailer Yamamoto, Olli Maatta
Injured: Logan Cooley, Terrell Goldsmith, Anson Thornton
Next Up for the Devils
The Devils will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, Jan. 4, for the second game in a back-to-back.
