- The Matchup: Utah Mammoth (2-1-0) @ New Jersey Devils (1-1-0)
- The Time: 7:00 pm EST
- The Broadcast: TV — ESPN+, Radio — Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Saturday night the Devils lost to the New York Islanders in their first road game of the season. No, you weren’t accidentally watching a replay of a game from last season or the season before it. You were indeed watching a game from the 2026-2027 season. No one would blame you though for not being able to tell it was a game from this year, considering the Devils and Keefe pulled their “we never come back from 2 goal deficits” disappearing act again. There was not a whole heck of a lot to like
about this game. Maybe if you are one of the 4 Devils fans that think the Devils should never have traded Palat, I suppose you are happy being able to say “I told you so” after he scored his first goal of the season against the Devils.
Nico Daws got his first start of the season, and in the first period at least, kept the Devils in the game, as the teams headed into the first intermission tied at 0-0. The Gordons Fishermen Islanders would score 2 quick goals in the second period however, at 3:32 and again at 5:00 to completely demoralize the Devils into giving up. I wish that was sarcasm, but sadly, in this case it is not. Bo Horvat added a power play goal (“teams are allowed to score on these things?”) at 12:08 of the second period to bump their lead to 3-0. There was some delusion hope that maybe the Devils would show some grit in the third period and make a comeback (or at least a comeback attempt), but the Islanders rained on that parade, adding 3 more goals in the period to end the game at a sad 6-0.
Much can (and will) be said about Nico Daws, and how some people think he’s not an NHL (or AHL) starting goalie. Maybe those people are right and maybe those people are wrong. I’m not going to debate that here. What I will say is, you can’t win a game scoring 0 goals. You sure won’t win many games going 0 for 5 on the PP. Daws may not have done what he needed to do, but no one in front of him did their job either.
Last Mammoth Game
On Sunday night, the Mammoth lost to the New York Rangers 4-2. It was their first loss of the season, after winning their first two games by a combined score of 10-1. The game was their second of a current 5 game road trip. Vladislav Gavrikov opened the scoring in the first period for the Rangers before Nick Schmaltz tied it up for Utah with a power play goal in the second period. The Rangers added 2 goals in the third period to take a 3-1 lead but Andrew Peeke made the game interesting, scoring for the Mammoth to make it 3-2 at 14:57 of the period. Unfortunately for the Mammoth, their comeback was put to rest after the Rangers scored an empty net goal to secure the victory.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
If you’re looking for a bright spot (and let’s be honest, there really weren’t any), no one on the Devils got injured in the game against the Islanders. So we have that going for us, which is nice. One thing that is interesting (at least to me) is the post game comment below from Keefe.
My question, to Keefe, and to the world at large, would be why? Why is your team not up to the level of the other team? Why did you have all summer, the preseason, and game 1 to get ready, and you still come out this way? I want to be clear. I am not ready to let go of Keefe (yet). I am not ready to jump off the cliff. It’s too soon. At the same time, it’s your job to have your team ready. If they don’t listen to you, then at some point, you aren’t the man for the job. For the record, I have sincere doubts about certain groups of players on this team, and their willingness to listen to the coach (or any coach) rather than do what they want. But that’s a guess on my part and not a fact.
Also on Monday, Amanda Stein posted the lines and pairings from practice. Jesper Boqvist skated in the spot previously occupied by Stefan Noesen. Kovacevic practiced, but was not yet cleared for a return to action, Brown was not at practice, and it looks like Jake Allen will start tonight.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2026-2027 Record Tracker
Counting the preseason, Grimace has an undefeated record so far with 2 wins and 0 losses. Sadly, unlike Grimace, the Devils are no longer undefeated this regular season. Fear not Devils faithful, for he has predicted a win again tonight. I will also be attending this game tonight, so I expect to see another win.
Grimace’s 2026-2027 Season Prediction record currently stands at 1-0-0.
Your Take
I am stating the obvious here, but the Devils played a poor game on Saturday. Also an obvious comment, but the Devils were never going 84-0 (it still feels weird to type that). I get it. It was how they lost, rather than the fact that they lost. Losses happen. Spoiler alert. This team (like every team) is going to lose many more games this season. Do I have concerns? 100% I do. Do I think it’s even remotely time to start thinking about panicking? I do not. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. I fully believe that Sunny is not the kind of GM to sit by and wait things out while yet another season circles the drain. Fitz did that, which is why he is no longer here. Sunny will not do that.
If (and yes, if) the Devils reach the 10 to 15 game mark and we see more of what we saw on Saturday, I sincerely believe that Sunny will take steps to address it then, and not in March or July. Have some faith folks, and enjoy the ride.
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my 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. :).
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