SALT LAKE CITY, UT - The Devils spent much of the night against the Utah Mammoth searching for answers on the power play, watching chances come and go, starting the game 0-for-4 with the man-advantage. That frustration finally broke when Stefan Noesen planted himself in the crease and finished in tight on Karel Vejmelka to give New Jersey the breakthrough they desperately needed.
"Great road win," Brett Pesce said. "Didn’t have our best, myself included, felt like I hadn’t played in two months,” Brett Pesce said. “You know what, we got a win, we grinded it out, good teams find ways to get to two points.”
Noesen’s conversion provided a much-needed release on an ailing power play, and the timing made it even more significant. Not only did it snap the drought, but it also handed the Devils their first lead of the night against the Mammoth, one they would hang on to win 2-1 in Utah.
Not to be outdone, Jacob Markstrom was rock solid, allowing just a single goal to Utah, in the first period. As the Devils tried to find their footing in the game, with failed power play opportunities, and Utah pressing hard, Markstrom held the fort.
"This one is on him tonight," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We don’t get the opportunity to hang around in the game and have big moments like we did in the third with the penalty kill and power play, if not for Marky and how held us in. We were outplayed for long stretches of the game, but it’s going to happen from time to time.”
The Devils had a gut-check moment at the end of the third period, when Dawson Mercer took a penalty in the dying minutes of the game and the Mammoth pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4. New Jersey came up with the clears and the blocks to hang on for the victory.
The Devils weren't going to be denied the opportunity for a win, as Connor Brown explained:
"Marky deserved the win at that point, it was a bit scrambly, maybe a bit more scrambly than we would have liked but they got two extra guys on the ice, so it was nice to gut one out.”
Utah opened the game scoring with a first-period power-play goal by Daniil But, before Connor Brown tied the game in the second period, his second goal in as many games and his third in four.
"I’m playing my brand of hockey," Brown said. "I’m being empowered a little more, playing a little more minutes than typically have over the last couple of years and it’s leading into a little bit more confidence, little bit more plays, so just kind of running with it.”
The Devils have started to find some more stride in their game and are winning four of their last six, including two straight on the two-game road trip through Vegas and Utah.
