The Utah Mammoth were left to lament their third-period performance Sunday night.
The New Jersey Devils had a lot more to regret about their game Saturday.
The Mammoth and Devils will each look to bounce back Tuesday night, when Utah continues its East Coast road trip by visiting Newark, N.J.
The Mammoth suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, when the New York Rangers scored three goals in the third period en route to a 4-2 victory. The Devils have been off since Saturday, when they were routed 6-0 by the host New York Islanders.
The loss halted a strong start for the Mammoth, who outscored the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets 10-1 while winning their first two games.
The Mammoth outshot the Rangers 30-22 on Sunday, including 15-9 in the third period, but New York capitalized on its opportunities and took the lead for good on Gabe Perreault’s goal 3:15 into the third.
Utah fell behind 3-1 before scratching one back on Andrew Peeke’s first goal of the season, but a New York empty-netter soon sealed the result.
The loss cost the Mammoth a chance at their second 3-0 start in the three years since they moved to Utah.
“That’s why you play three periods and I just think mentally we did not sustain in the third,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “We didn’t stay patient. We forced it. I think there’s a lot of will and competitiveness in our team and sometimes if you don’t use it the right way, you force the game, you open up the play and sometimes they capitalize.”
Nick Schmaltz (four goals) and Dylan Guenther (three goals, two assists) have had hot starts for Utah, while Clayton Keller has yet to score but produced a team-high five assists.
The Devils gave the Islanders plenty of chances Saturday, when New York rolled to its most lopsided home-opener win since a 9-0 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 14, 1982.
The defeat was the most one-sided shutout loss for the Devils since they fell to the Islanders 9-0 on Jan. 6.
New Jersey outshot the Islanders 37-32 Saturday night — including 30-23 over the final two periods, when New York scored all of its goals. The hosts scored three times in a nine-minute span in the second and three more times in the final 8:28 of the third.
The Devils’ special teams were particularly vulnerable against the Islanders. New Jersey finished 0-for-5 on the power play and gave up a power-play goal to Bo Horvat 12:08 into the second and a short-handed tally to Casey Cizikas with 1:19 remaining in the game.
New Jersey went 0-for-4 on the power play in its season opener Thursday, when Jack Hughes scored in overtime and the Devils edged the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2.
“We were playing preseason hockey against a team that was probably playing February-type hockey,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said Saturday. “They played on another level.”
–Field Level Media
