Devils 2, Mammoth 1: Markstrom steals two points

For the second game in a row, New Jersey's victory was powered by an excellent goaltending performance.

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By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)

The New Jersey Devils earned another two points on the road Friday night, grinding out a 2-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth.

Let’s get into some key takeaways from the affair:

Markstrom steals the show

The Devils were sleepy for much of the game, getting out-dueled at 5v5 pretty handily by a middle-of-the-road Mammoth team after a relatively even first period.

All told, at 5v5, Utah had a monumental lead in shot attempts (52-28), shots on goal (23-11), scoring chances (12-5), high-danger chances (12-2), and, of course, expected goals (2.34-0.81), according to NaturalStatTrick. The Devils, though, were the only team to score a 5v5 goal.

The main driver in that 1-0 result was none other than Jacob Markstrom, who put the team on his back en route to the victory. At all strengths, the Mammoth put up 4.14 xG on the Devils, but he stood tall and shut the door when it mattered most.

The only one to get past him was Daniil But’s first NHL goal, a backhander on the power play that was aided by the stick of Jonas Siegenthaler. Beyond that, Markstrom was perfect.

It was evident from the get-go that he was going to have a good game, given that he was visibly calmer in net than he has been this season and stopped a 2-on-1 Grade-A chance – again off the stick of But – early in the first frame.

This marks two games in a row where the Devils received otherworldly goaltending. Against Vegas, a 2-1 shootout victory, Jake Allen was the main protagonist for the victory, saving +4.14 goals above expected, according to SportLogiq.

While not quite that caliber, Markstrom’s start last night is hopefully the beginning of a stretch in which he finds his game again.

Brown’s magnum opus

As far as skaters go, no Devil was more important than Connor Brown.

Of course, the 31-year-old’s game-tying goal in the second period will be viewed as the most important present he gifted the Devils in the affair, but it was the other parts of his game that were most impressive.

Brown led all Devils skaters – defensemen included – in time on ice, with 22:16. 2:52 of that came on the penalty kill, with a good chunk of that occurring on a Utah 6-on-4 that Dawson Mercer facilitated with a needless penalty with just under 90 seconds remaining.

He made a number of defensive stops on that kill alone, impeding on shooting and passing lanes as though it was his destiny.

Brown was also deployed on the team’s first power play unit when it was realized that Ondrej Palat was rather useless in that role. The Devils scored on the only power play that Brown was a part of.

His underlying numbers were rather unimpressive (he ended the night with an xGF% of 32.64%), but it is important to note that the Devils allowed the third-fewest xGA with him on the ice (0.34) of any Devils player on the team at 5v5, solely being defensively bested by Brenden Dillon and Palat (0.19 each).

Quick hits

• I thought the Devils’ top line was once again their best as a whole, with extra flowers to be thrown Nico Hischier’s way. His two-assist night propelled New Jersey to its victory, and he was one of only three members of the team to sport an xGF% above 50%, finishing the night with a 58.80%. On top of that, he was first among forwards in shot attempts (6), scoring chances (4), and shots on goal (5). I have a feeling that his point production will take a leap upwards once everyone is healthy – when he isn’t tasked with doing everything and the power play regains its full strength.

• Speaking of health, Sheldon Keefe outright said that the Devils would be regaining some bodies in Sunday’s affair against the Buffalo Sabres. Perhaps the Devils are regaining one of their star forwards – maybe even Jack Hughes?

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