Three-point nights from Nick Schmaltz and Mikhail Sergachev carried the Utah Mammoth to a 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday night.
Clayton Keller opened the scoring with his first goal of the season on a power-play slap shot at 1:57 of the first period. Luke Evangelista responded for New Jersey with his first goal of the year, tipping in a power-play shot at 12:23 to make it 1-1. MacKenzie Weegar gave Utah the lead back 1:42 into the second period with an even-strength backhand, but Evangelista answered again at 6:31 with another tip-in goal to tie the game 2-2.
Utah pulled away late in the second period. Schmaltz scored his fifth goal of the season on a wrist shot during a power play at 12:05 to give the Mammoth a 3-2 lead. Lawson Crouse added his first goal of the year on a tip-in with 57 seconds remaining in the period. Jesper Boqvist cut the deficit to 4-3 for New Jersey at 9:49 of the third period on a backhand shot, but Vincent Trocheck secured the win by scoring his first goal of the season on a wrist shot with 3:08 left to play.
Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves on 33 shots to earn the win in net for Utah, while New Jersey goaltender Jake Allen stopped 26 of 31 shots. The Mammoth converted two of their four power-play opportunities and limited the Devils to one goal on five chances with the man advantage.
The victory improved the Mammoth to 3-1-0 on the regular season. New Jersey fell to 1-2-0 and is winless in two consecutive games.
Both teams continue their regular-season schedules. Utah hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, October 19, and the Devils host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, October 20.
