Utah Hockey Club’s defenseman Mikhail Segachev scored Utah’s only goal against the New Jersey Devils at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Mar 1, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Swiss Forwards Nico Hischier and Timo Meier solve Karel Vejmelka in 3-1 New Jersey Devils win over Utah HC, snapping Utah’s four-game home win streak.

The Utah Hockey Club looked to extend their 4-game home winning streak on Saturday against the visiting Devils who in October gave Utah their first road loss of the season in a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Nico Hischier was first to strike in the game, putting New Jersey up 1-0 in the first with his 25th goal of the season, assisted by Luke Hughes and Tomas Tatar. The Devils edged Utah 9-7 in shots on goal for the period, a deceptive statistic considering how much time New Jersey spent in their offensive zone. Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka, who entered the matchup on a personal four-game winning streak, turned away two Grade A breakaways in the frame to limit the Devils to a single goal.

At 10:03 of the second period, Mikhail Sergachev tied things up with his 11th goal of the season, a new career season high for the Russian defenseman, assisted by Liam O’Brien and Kevin Stenlund. When the PA announcer called out the players who scored, the loudest shouts came for fan-favorite O’Brien who recorded just his 2nd point of the season in his 22nd game. Earlier in the first he fired up the crowd fighting New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon.

Just 14 seconds into the third period, Devils forward Timo Meier found the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season, assisted by Dawson Mercer and Johnathan Kovacevic. New Jersey’s offense continued to be relentless throughout the period, further padding their lead at 12:44 of the third on the second goal of the season by Curtis Lazar, assisted by Jack Hughes and Nathan Bastian. Devils goalie Nico Daws was brilliant in net, saving 24 of 25 shots for the win which ended streaks for Utah at home and Vejmelka overall.

After the game, Liam O’Brien spoke with the media about his assist on Sergachev’s goal. “Yeah, I mean, just Sergy getting into a good spot, and he’s got such a dangerous shot, so when you get him the puck, it’s gonna go in the net.” Talking about any adjustments the squad might make heading into the road trip, O’Brien said, “I think the biggest thing is just rest. I think it’s been kind of a grind since break. I think just doing the right things away from the rink, and taking care of our bodies and getting ready to roll on the road.” With regard to his fight, O’Brien added, “Just wanting to get the momentum, that’s it.”

Mikhail Sergachev commented on O’Brien’s assist. “Well, hell of a pass by Tuna. I was in the slot, so I had to shoot it. It was a knuckleball. Nothing special.” With regard to his new career high in goals, Sergachev added, “Obviously I want to score as many as possible, but it’s all about winning for me. If I can contribute scoring goals, great. If not, I’ll play defense. I’m not chasing goals.” Speaking of Vejmelka’s performance in goal, Sergachev said, “He’s been unreal all season long. He’s been a rock back there for us and an unbelievable goalie. Obviously it gives you confidence to play when you have a great goalie back there. He makes timeless saves for us.”

Head coach André Tourigny offered his takeaways from the game. “The first takeaway is that’s a really good team on the other side, and they played a really good game. They played with a really high pace and credit to them. Having that said, I think when you are in those kinds of games, you need to rise to the occasion. I think our level of focus and detail on what we knew they would do was not high enough. I think we went into that game wanting to play our game, which is fine, but you need to also know exactly the details of how you need to play against each opponent. I didn’t like our level of focus on those.” Tourigny also had praise for his netminder. “At key moments, he was great. In the first period, I think we were in deep water and he made key saves. He kept us there and allowed us to come back and tie the game. It’s a really good team. It’s a tight game. I’m not forgetting the fact we’re five games in eight days, and we’re at the end of it. It’ll be a welcome break for us to regroup, recover. But at the same time, in life you win or you learn, and it’s important. We had a few learning lessons in that game, and we cannot pass by.”

Utah now hits the road for a pair of games in Detroit and Chicago before returning March 10 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.