- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (19-14-1) @ Utah Mammoth (17-16-3)
- The Time: 9:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSGSN 2, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
Late (on the east coast) Wednesday night (morning?) the Devils defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1. In case you have been living under a rock, or just, you know, busy…the game marked the return of Brett Pesce. It was the first game Pesce had played in since the win on 10/26 against Colorado. The Devils (and Luke Hughes) were happy to have their best D man back.
The teams went scoreless in the 1st period before Connor Brown made a nasty power move to score unassisted early in the 2nd period. Vegas tied the game with a late power play goal in the 3rd period from Pavel Dorofeyev which eventually sent the game to OT and the skills contest shootout. Surprisingly, Paul Cotter did not score in the shootout as the first man up for the Devils. Vegas was kept off the scoreboard in the shootout and Jesper Bratt scored in the 2nd round to win the game for the Devils.
It was nice to see the Devils win a tight, low scoring game. Heck, it was nice to see the Devils win period. The biggest highlight of the night was probably the return of Brett Pesce. However, let’s talk about the 1st star of the game, Jake “Hi, I’m right here and I’m an actual NHL goalie” Allen. Allen made 36 saves and posted a .973 sv %. I’m just going to leave this here, but there is basically no chance the Devils win this game or make it to OT with Markstrom in net.
Last Mammoth Game
On Wednesday night, Utah defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. The game was their last of a 3 game road trip which saw them win 2 out of 3. Prior to the game, Detroit had won 5 of their previous 6 games. However, they were never really in command against Utah.
After ending the 1st period scoreless, Utah scored 2 goals in the 2nd period to enter the 3rd with a comfortable 2-0 lead. Detroit scored a power play goal at around the halfway mark of the 3rd to make it 2-1. However, Utah would score again less than 5 minutes later and again less than a minute later to go up 4-1 and that was that, as they say.
Karel Vejmelka got the win in net for the Mammoth, his 15th of the season. In their last 10 games, he has started 7 times. One could make the argument that he will probably start tonight against the Devils. However, maybe Utah head coach Andre Tourigny will feel the need to give our old pal, Stanley Cup winner Vitek Vanecek, a chance to beat his old team tonight. We shall see.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
The Devils had practice on Thursday, but there was not much new to report afterwards. Per Amanda Stein, it looks like the same lineup from Vegas will be playing tonight.
There has been no news as of this writing on the starting goalie for tonight. I would expect an announcement at some point today as far as who the starter will be today. I’d be beyond shocked if Keefe decides to play Allen 2 games in a row, which means if I had to guess, Markstrom will get the nod tonight.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
Grimace is happy to be back in the win column after his correct prediction Wednesday night. He is also happy to be back over .500. I’ve been informed that the Devils will win again tonight to get their first 2 game win “streak” since November.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 10-9-0.
Your Take
I’m sure Sheldon Keefe won’t do this and I’m sure some of you will disagree with me too. However, to be blunt, the Devils have to ride Allen for the majority of the games going forward. If he starts to fall apart from more starts, fine. They can cross that bridge when they get there. The bottom line is, objectively, Allen gives the team a chance to win most nights and Markstrom does not. It really is (should) be that simple. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
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