Stefan Noesen nets go-ahead goal as Devils edge Mammoth
Stefan Noesen scored the go-ahead goal at the 4:20 mark of the third period and Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves as the New Jersey Devils completed a sweep of their two-game western road trip with a 2-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Connor Brown also scored a goal and Nico Hischier had two assists for New Jersey, which moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division with the win.
Daniil But scored a goal and Karel Vejmelka stopped 20 of 22 shots for Utah, which lost for the second time in three games.
Utah took a 1-0 lead at the 9:35 mark of the first period when But's backhand shot from the high slot deflected off the stick of defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler over Markstrom's glove and under the crossbar for the first goal of his NHL career.
New Jersey tied it, 1-1, midway through the second period when Brown took a Hischier pass at the bottom of the right circle and then roofed a wrist shot into the top right corner past Vejmelka's blocker side for his third goal in the last four games.
The Devils took a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a power-play goal by Noesen, who chipped in a rebound of a Hischier point shot over a sprawling Vejmelka and into an open net.
Utah nearly tied it with 4:42 remaining when Sean Durzi had a point blank shot from the slot but Markstrom deflected the puck over the crossbar with his glove.
The Mammoth pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker with 2:05 to go and had a 6-on-4 power play the final 1:21 when Dawson Mercer went to the penalty box for tripping but Markstrom came up with a pair of saves to seal the win.