- The Matchup: Utah Mammoth (19-19-3) @ New Jersey Devils (21-17-2)
- The Time: 3:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On New Year’s Eve, the Devils beat Columbus for their first win in 5 games. Over the first two periods, things were not looking good for the Devils, yet again. Mason Marchment scored in the 1st period for Columbus and Charlie Coyle scored in the 2nd period to send the game to the 3rd period with the Blue Jackets up 2-0. Rightfully so, there was definitely a feeling of “here we go again” heading into the 3rd period. The Devils had lost 4 games in a row prior to the game and up until then, had not yet comeback to win a game this season where they had been trailing after 2 periods. Surely, the game would be another loss and their 5th in a row.
The Devils decided that enough was enough in the 3rd period and went on to score 3 goals in the span of less than 2 minutes. Yes folks, you read that right. The Devils scored 3 goals in less than 2 minutes, after scoring 5 goals COMBINED in their last FOUR games. Nico Hischier scored a power play goal at 2:49 (remember those?) with assists from the Hughes brothers. Arseny Gritsyuk scored his 8th goal at 3:44 and Luke Hughes scored his 4th at 4:45. Fans were probably left wondering if they were watching condensed highlights of a previous game with the explosion of offense lighting up their screens.
The win against Columbus was one that the Devils really needed to stop their losing streak. Jake Allen gave the Devils a chance to win, and for the first time in a while, the offense for the Devils actually held up their end of the bargain. On the other hand, the Devils beat Columbus, a team that is performing exactly as expected this season (unlike the Devils); average, at best. A win is a win. 2 points are 2 points. I’m happy the Devils won. Sincerely. At the same time, let’s not act like all of the problems facing this team have now magically disappeared. They haven’t. I genuinely hope this win kicks off a long winning streak, but I will reserve judgment as I’ve fallen victim to this thinking many times before over the past few years. Fool me 10 times, well……you know.
Last Mammoth Game
On New Year’s Day, Utah defeated the Islanders by a score of 7-2. Things started out even for both teams as they went scoreless in the 1st period. However, Utah would score 3 goals in the 2nd period while Calum Ritchie added 1 goal for the Islanders to end the 2nd period with a 3-1 Utah lead. Utah put the game away in the 3rd period, scoring 4 goals (including back to back power play goals less than 3 minutes apart) to only 1 for the Islanders.
Dylan Guenther had a 4 point night for Utah, including his 1st career hat trick. This is actually good news Devils fans. It means that we don’t need to worry about a player getting their first x, y, z against the Devils today. If anyone in the NHL is looking to have their first shutout, goal, hat trick, win, etc., the Devils are the team to do it against.
Karel Vejmelka was in net for the win for Utah against New York. He has played 30 games this season so far for Utah, which means he will most likely get the start today against New Jersey, though that is not yet confirmed as of this writing. This is good news, yet again Devils fans (assuming Vanecek doesn’t start). We all know, it’s a known fact of the universe that if Vitek gets the start, he will post a 61 save shutout.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
There was a little bit of interesting news from Amanda Stein on Friday afternoon. Paul Cotter is coming out of the lineup today and will be replaced by Juho Lammikko. Cotter did practice on Friday as part of the 4th pair of D, so he’s healthy, and this appears to be a gameplay decision. For those of you who have been asking for some accountability or for someone to be benched, here you go.
Before some of you (not all of you) get nervous, Dennis Cholowski did skate for Luke Hughes who did not practice on Friday. However, per Amanda Stein, Luke is fine and will play today.
Back on 12/28, per Stein “Sounds like Nemec will need some more time before a return, Keefe mentioned likely a couple more weeks until he’s ready.” There hasn’t been a recent update on Evegenii “remember me?” Dadonov either so who knows if/when he will be back in the lineup.
I would expect Jacob Markstrom to get the start today. Keefe has alternated the goalies every game for the last 8 games. Assuming the pattern continues, it’s a safe bet we will see Markstrom, though it’s not official yet. In a move that will surprise some of you readers, I’m not going to trash Markstrom here for the first time in a while. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complimenting him, and I still think his best days are far, far behind him. However, he did have a decent December, with a 2.85 GAA and .900 SV%. He gave the team a chance to win some games last month, and that’s the bare minimum you can ask from your goalie, which he’s done recently.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
For the first time in what feels like forever, Grimace correctly predicted two games in a row. Maybe the worst is behind him in the new year? Either way, Grimace is predicting the Devils will get the win today for their 2nd in a row and their first (of hopefully many) in 2026.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 11-9-0.
Your Take
Today is a matchup between basically two .500 level teams. The Devils should be a better team than Utah, both on paper and on the ice. The question, as it has been mostly this whole season, is which Devils team will show up today? If the Devils from the 3rd period against Columbus show up for the whole game today, a win shouldn’t be too difficult. If the Devils from periods 1 and 2 show up for the whole game, well, expect another loss. In the immortal words of Walter Hartwell White (and Sheldon Keefe), the Devils, quite simply, need to “grow some @#$&ing balls.” Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂