Sergachev’s three assists and Utah’s second-period burst lift Mammoth past Devils 5-3

A tied opening gave way to Utah’s best 20 minutes

Utah started quickly when Clayton Keller scored at 1:57 of the first period, finishing a play set up by Sergachev and Logan Cooley. New Jersey answered before the intermission through Luke Evangelista, whose tip-in at 12:23 levelled the game at 1-1 after passes from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.

The game turned in the second. MacKenzie Weegar restored Utah’s lead only 1:42 into the period, converting with Anders Lee and Sergachev drawing the assists. New Jersey again found a response when Evangelista struck for the second time at 6:31, another tip-in that made it 2-2 and briefly reset the night.

Utah owned the rest of the period. Nick Schmaltz scored at 12:05 with Dylan Guenther and Sergachev on the setup, and Lawson Crouse added another at 19:03 from Barrett Hayton and Schmaltz. That three-goal second period gave the Mammoth a 4-2 edge after 40 minutes, the stretch that ultimately defined the result.

New Jersey still made the third period matter. Jesper Boqvist’s wrap-around at 9:49 cut the deficit to one, with Dougie Hamilton and Declan Chisholm earning assists. Utah, however, finished with the game’s other third-period goal as part of the official 5-3 final, preserving the separation it created in the second.

Sergachev drove the offence, while Utah’s details added up

Sergachev was at the centre of much of Utah’s sharpest work. The defenceman assisted on Keller’s opener, Weegar’s go-ahead goal early in the second and Schmaltz’s eventual winner, giving him involvement in three of Utah’s first four goals. Schmaltz complemented that playmaking with a goal and an assist, while Crouse and Keller each finished one chance cleanly.

Utah did not run away with the territorial numbers, but it handled several of the smaller battles a little better. The Mammoth outshot New Jersey 31-30, won 51.5 per cent of the faceoffs and held a clear edge in physical totals with 24 hits to the Devils’ 10. They also blocked 17 shots, with Weegar’s six blocks standing out on a blue line that absorbed a fair amount of New Jersey pressure.

Special teams also pushed the game in Utah’s direction. The Mammoth scored twice on four power-play opportunities, while the Devils went 1-for-4. In a game decided by two goals on the final scoreboard and by one goal for much of the third period, that difference mattered. Karel Vejmelka’s 27 saves did the rest, while Jake Allen stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced before Utah’s full five-goal total was reached.

Our take

Utah’s clearest strength in this result was timing. The shot count stayed close all night, so this was not a case of one side overwhelming the other from start to finish. Instead, the Mammoth were better in the moments that changed the scoreboard: an early strike in the first, a composed answer at the start of the second, then two more goals before the end of the middle frame. That sequence gave them room to survive New Jersey’s late push.

There is still a caution flag in Utah’s numbers. The Mammoth were charged with 22 giveaways, a high total for a game that tightened in the third period. Against a deeper or more clinical opponent, that kind of puck management can erase the value of strong special teams and timely finishing. Utah won this one because its scoring burst was good enough to cover the sloppier stretches.

For New Jersey, the encouraging part was Evangelista’s finishing and the fact the Devils stayed within reach after trailing by two. The problem was that too much of their offence came in reply mode. They matched Utah’s power-play opportunities but lost that battle, and they did not turn a 30-shot night into the tying goal once Boqvist made it close. If there is a practical lesson here, it is less about wholesale change than about sharper execution in the same key areas Utah won: the penalty kill, the defining moments of the second period and the finishing touch around a one-goal game.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 1:57

   Clayton Keller Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Mikhail Sergachev (3), Logan Cooley (4)

2. 1st · 12:23

   Luke Evangelista Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Jack Hughes (1), Jesper Bratt (2)

3. 2nd · 1:42

   MacKenzie Weegar Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Anders Lee (2), Mikhail Sergachev (4)

4. 2nd · 6:31

   Luke Evangelista Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Timo Meier (1)

5. 2nd · 12:05

   Nick Schmaltz Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Guenther (3), Mikhail Sergachev (5)

6. 2nd · 19:03

   Lawson Crouse Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Barrett Hayton (1), Nick Schmaltz (1)

7. 3rd · 9:49

   Jesper Boqvist Goal (1) Wrap-around, assists: Dougie Hamilton (1), Declan Chisholm (1)