The New Jersey Devils got a little more life from their line combinations on Tuesday night, but it still wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Utah Mammoth in a 5-3 loss at Prudential Center.
New Jersey was trying to answer after being shut out by the New York Islanders over the weekend, and the start of a three-game homestand looked like a chance to steady things. Instead, the Devils spent much of the night chasing the game, battling back twice before Utah’s offense pulled away for good.
Jesper Boqvist’s return gave the Devils one of their few bright spots. He stepped into the fourth line with Amadeus Lombardi and Cody Glass for his season debut, and that group produced a few promising looks in the second and third periods. Boqvist also trimmed the Mammoth’s lead to one midway through the third, finishing on his backhand past Karel Vejmelka.
Afterward, Sheldon Keefe praised that trio, saying, “I wanted and needed them to be important in the game…[They] got better as the game went on and for most of that third period were our best line.”
Keefe also mixed up his top six during the game, sliding Arseny Gritsyuk onto the first line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Anthony Mantha moved down to the third line alongside Evan Rodrigues and Dawson Mercer. That Mantha-Rodrigues-Mercer unit was only on the ice for 2:18 at 5-on-5, but it made the most of it, posting six shot attempts, three scoring chances and two shots on goal.
Special teams shaped the night early. Timo Meier took a high-sticking penalty just ten seconds in, and Clayton Keller made the Devils pay with the opening goal. New Jersey then came up empty on its first two power plays before finally breaking through on a 5-on-3, when Luke Evangelista scored on a tip-in to tie it 1-1.
The Devils finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage and are now 1-for-14 overall on the power play, a 7.1% success rate. Utah, meanwhile, kept leaning on the league’s best power play and converted twice, scoring the go-ahead goal in both the first and second periods. The Mammoth entered the night at 61.5% on the power play.
New Jersey did show more fight after falling behind than it did in Saturday’s 6-0 loss, when the offense disappeared after three unanswered second-period goals. Against Utah, the Devils tied the game in the first and second periods and then pushed again late. They generated 12 shots and 14 scoring opportunities in the third, according to Natural Stat Trick, and added another 5-on-5 goal during a late surge.
Luke Hughes said the team can’t dwell on the uneven stretches, telling reporters, “It’s definitely not time to hit the panic button…We’re playing good hockey in spurts, we just have to do it all the time.”
The other concern for New Jersey is the injury situation. Jonas Siegenthaler was hurt at the start of the third period and did not return. Keefe said afterward that there was no update on Siegenthaler’s status and that he needs further evaluation.
The Devils will be back on Saturday for an afternoon game against the Vancouver Canucks.
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