Devils Must Show They Can Bounce Back Against the Mammoth

The New Jersey Devils have already been handed a difficult test early in the 2026-27 season.

After opening the season with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey was completely shut down in its second game, suffering a 6-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night. The Devils return home Tuesday night to face the Utah Mammoth, and while it may only be the third game of an 84-game season, this is an important opportunity for New Jersey to prove they are legitimate contenders and that Saturday was an isolated bad game rather than the beginning of another troubling pattern.

For a team that severely struggled last season to recover from difficult losses, Tuesday needs to be about responding.

One Bad Game Cannot Become a Pattern

The 6-0 loss to the Islanders was ugly. New Jersey struggled to generate offense when it mattered, went zero for four on the power play, and ultimately allowed the game to get away from them in the second period.

The loss was especially concerning because of the opponent.

The Islanders have become a major problem for New Jersey. They swept all four meetings between the teams last season, outscoring the Devils 17-4, and entered Saturday with a 7-0-1 record in the previous eight regular season games against New Jersey.

However, the bigger concern is how the Devils respond to a loss on this scale.

Last season, New Jersey repeatedly struggled to turn the page after difficult losses. One of the clearest examples came in January, when the Devils suffered a 9-0 loss to the Islanders. The defeat quickly unraveled the team, as New Jersey went on to lose its next two games, including the following game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in which the Devils managed one goal.

That is precisely what needs to be different this season. The Devils can’t erase a 6-0 loss, but what they can and need to control is the upcoming response.

The Response

Calling the Utah game a “must-win” may seem dramatic this early in the season. It’s not a must-win in the traditional sense. The Devils are not facing any playoff elimination, and there are still 81 games remaining after Tuesday.

But it is a must-win mentality game. New Jersey needs to establish that this version of the Devils is capable of answering adversity differently than last season’s team.

The organization made significant changes during the offseason. Sunny Mehta took over as general manager, the roster received several additions, and the team entered the season with expectations of being significantly better than the group that finished second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division.

That means the Devils cannot afford to carry the same habits forward. A team trying to make the playoffs has to be able to lose games without allowing those losses to snowball. 

The 2026-27 Devils team need to prove they can learn from bad losses and come back with a completely different effort the next game. That all starts Tuesday night.

Special Teams Must Be Better

The first step toward establishing this new mentality has to be discipline. The Devils cannot afford to make a difficult situation even harder for themselves, particularly against a Utah team that will be looking to capitalize on any mistakes New Jersey makes.

Special teams have been one of the biggest storylines through the opening two games, and the power play has been a major concern. New Jersey failed to capitalize on all four of its opportunities with the man advantage in its 6-0 loss, bringing the team to zero for nine on the power play through its first two games of the season. That is a trend the Devils cannot allow to continue.

For the Devils, there is simply too much offensive talent on the first unit for the power play to remain this ineffective. With Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Luke Evangelista, and Dougie Hamilton on the top unit, New Jersey has no shortage of players capable of creating scoring chances. The challenge now is turning that talent into consistent execution.

They need to make opposing penalty kills uncomfortable. They need to move the puck with purpose, generate shots, create traffic in front of the net and, most importantly, avoid allowing power-play opportunities to disappear without sustained offensive pressure.

Offense Needs to Show the Talent It Has

Another area the Devils need to improve is their five-on-five production. Through the first two games, New Jersey has scored just three goals, with two of those coming from defensemen. While contributions from the blue line are always valuable, the Devils need their forwards—particularly the players expected to lead the offense—to start finding the back of the net.

Mehta made a point of adding more depth to the forward group this offseason, and now that investment needs to translate into production. The top two lines, in particular, need to start going to work, generating sustained pressure and finding ways to put pucks past opposing goaltenders. New Jersey has already shown flashes of what it can do offensively. There has been good zone-entry work, crisp passing, and encouraging chemistry for a team that added several new pieces over the offseason.

The concern is that those flashes have not consistently translated into goals.

That is particularly important considering where the Devils finished last season. New Jersey scored 226 goals, which ranked sixth-lowest in the NHL. If the Devils want to take a significant step forward this season, their offensive production has to improve. The habits that contributed to last season’s struggles cannot carry over into another season, and the early lack of five-on-five scoring is something that needs to be addressed before it becomes a larger problem.

At the same time, it is important not to overreact after just two games. This is still a group finding its identity, and several important pieces are adjusting to new linemates. Anthony Mantha, Evan Rodrigues, and Evangelista are all learning how to play within a new system while developing chemistry with teammates who have spent considerably more time playing together.

The encouraging part is that the Devils have more offensive depth than they did a season ago. There are more players capable of creating offense, more options throughout the lineup, and more opportunities for different lines to make an impact. Now, New Jersey needs to turn those individual pieces into a cohesive offensive attack.

The Devils cannot rely solely on one or two lines to carry the scoring load. Every line needs to contribute, and the team needs to find ways to sustain pressure and capitalize on the opportunities it creates. If the passing, zone entries, and chemistry continue to improve, the goals should follow—but New Jersey needs to start putting all of those pieces together before a lack of five-on-five scoring becomes another familiar problem.

Up Next for the Devils

The Devils now have the opportunity to decide what comes next.

They cannot change what happened in their 6-0 loss, but they can control how they respond. New Jersey needs to enter Tuesday’s matchup with urgency, focus and determination to show that this season’s team is different. A bounce-back victory would send an important message—not only to the rest of the league, but to the Devils themselves and their fans—that one bad performance will not be allowed to turn into a pattern.

The Devils have talked about turning the page and developing a different mentality this season. Now, they have an opportunity to put that mindset into action. It will take discipline, stronger special teams, more consistent five-on-five offense and, most importantly, a complete effort from start to finish.

If New Jersey is serious about being a playoff contender and becoming a team that opponents do not want to face, Tuesday’s game needs to be the first step toward proving it.