Markstrom makes 32 saves, helps Devils edge Mammoth

SALT LAKE CITY -- Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves for the New Jersey Devils in a 2-1 win against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Friday.

“It was a great team effort,” Markstrom said. “The penalty kill came up big in the end of the second, early third, and also at the end of the game with 6-on-4. And then our power play gets us a big goal, so that's the difference of the game.”

Stefan Noesen broke a tie early in the third period on the power play, Connor Brown also scored, and Nico Hischier had two assists for the Devils (20-14-1), who have won four of their past six games (4-2-0).

“This one's on him tonight,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said of Markstrom. “We don't get the opportunity to hang around in the game and have big moments like we did in the third period with penalty kill and power play, if not for Markstrom and how he held us in.”

Daniil But scored his first NHL goal, and Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves for the Mammoth (17-17-3), who had won three of four.

“We did a lot of good stuff, obviously, dominated scoring chances, shots, stuff like that,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we had a portion to put the game away when we had the lead, and we could not score the big goal, take advantage of our opportunity, and in the third they did a good job. Give them credit, but at the same time, we need to find a way to put pucks in the net, to find seams, and to create more chaos.”

Alex Kerfoot made his season debut after missing the first 36 games with a lower-body injury.

“I've never gone through an injury like this,” Kerfoot said. “This season, I feel like more than ever, because the schedule is so condensed, we haven't had practice time really at all. I haven't gotten into a practice. So, my first couple shifts, it was just feeling, trying to keep it short. But overall, the game felt fast, but I felt good and felt like my touches were good when I was out there and just got to keep building.”

But gave Utah a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:35 of the first period, firing a backhanded shot past Markstrom. The 20-year-old forward was a first-round pick (No. 12) by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“I'm not going to lie, it felt good when I scored,” But said. “But the most important thing is winning, and we lost today.”

Brown tied it 1-1 at 11:21 of the second period, beating Vejmelka on the blocker side.

Noesen’s power-play goal put the Devils ahead 2-1 at 4:20 of the third period, tapping in a rebound of Hischier’s point shot.

The Devils were 0-for-7 with the man-advantage over their previous three games entering Friday, and started the game 0-for-4 before Noesen’s go-ahead goal.

“I think we needed that one, for sure, especially in that game too,” Hischier said. “[We had a] 5-on-3 early again and couldn't score. So, definitely good that we came up big at the end.”

New Jersey killed a 6-on-4 power play over the final 1:21 with Vejmelka pulled for the extra skater after Dawson Mercer’s tripping penalty against Barrett Hayton at 18:39.

“He played unbelievable and kept us in the game, always, and even at the end he made huge saves, and he was a big part of our win tonight,” Hischier said.

Said Keefe: “The guys did a great job. Fitting that the PK has to find a way, 6-on-4, to grind it out at the end there. This is a gutsy one here today. Sometimes they're going to look like this, and to come up with two points is a lot better than the alternative.”

NOTES: Hischier recorded his 105th career multipoint game and tied Petr Sykora for the ninth most in franchise history. He also passed John MacLean (46) for sole possession of 10th on the franchise’s all-time multi-assist games list. … But became just the second player ever to score their first NHL goal as a member of Utah, following Maveric Lamoureux (Oct. 30, 2024).