Daniil But scores 1st NHL goal but Mammoth lose tight game to Devils

The Utah Mammoth’s matchup with the New Jersey Devils on Friday yielded a number of interesting storylines — but a win was not among them.

Through three games all-time against New Jersey, Utah is now 0-3-0 — but the Mammoth have improved on the scoreboard each time:

• 3-0 on Oct. 14, 2024;
• 3-1 on March 1, 2025;
• 2-1 on Friday.

They’ll meet again on Jan. 3 in Newark, where Mammoth fans will hope the numbers continue to trend in that direction.

Quick catchup

New Jersey Devils: 2

Utah Mammoth: 1

The Mammoth have played in four different states over the past six days, but you wouldn’t know it seeing the energy they brought to this one.

They outshot their opponents 33-22, and they tripled them in that category in the second period — but they couldn’t solve Jacob Markström.

Markström, a 16-year NHL veteran with plenty of accolades to his name, has struggled this season as a whole. He allowed three goals in less than eight minutes against the Tampa Bay Lightning two starts ago, and his next start wasn’t great either.

In this one, though, the only one to beat him was rookie Daniil But. We’ll dive into that one later on.

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The Mammoth held their 1-0 lead courtesy of But for more than a period, but Connor Brown evened it up on a blistering shot from the slot just past the halfway point in the game.

Stefan Noesen scored on the power play in the third period to put the Devils ahead, and the Mammoth never recovered.

“We had opportunities to put the game away when we had the lead, and we could not score the big goal, take advantage of our opportunities,” said Mammoth head coach André Tourigny after the game.

“In the third, they did a good job. Give them credit, but at the same time, we need to find a way to put pucks at the net, find seams and create more chaos.”

Tidbits and takeaways

C’est le But

“But” means “goal” in French. That happens to be the native language of Utah’s head coach, who put rookie Daniil But in a position to score his first career NHL “but” on Friday.

It came against the Devils, who drafted his father, Anton But, in the fifth round of the 1998 draft. The elder But never played a game in the NHL, but he enjoyed a long pro career in the KHL, where he now works as an assistant coach.

“I’m not going to lie, it felt good when I score, but the most important thing is winning, and we lost today,” But said after the game.

Tourigny knew it would happen eventually.

“It was a matter of time,” he said. “He was playing good hockey. No doubt it was coming, and (I’m) happy for him. It was an important goal for us.”

I also want to point out that during my appearance on the Clean Hits hockey podcast earlier in the day, I predicted that But’s first goal would come in this game. I did the same for Maveric Lamoureux when he scored his first goal, and it came true that time, too.

You’re welcome, Mammoth fans.

Kerfoot’s return

Prior to this season, Alexander Kerfoot had missed just one game over the last five seasons.

A core injury, which appeared to have occurred on the first day of training camp, sidelined him for the first 36 games of this season. In addition to not playing, he also hasn’t participated in a full practice since last season.

The team eased him back in on Friday, his first game since April 15. He played the second-fewest minutes of any Mammoth player, eclipsing Liam O’Brien by 52 seconds.

“First couple shifts, I was just feeling it out, trying to keep it short, but overall, the game felt fast, but I felt good and felt like my touches were good when I was out there. Just got to keep building,” Kerfoot said.

He did get his feet wet on the penalty kill, where he was a fixture last year. The team implemented some new systems this season, and he’s done what he can to keep up.

“I’ve never gone through anything like this, so I obviously watch all our games and try and, kind of, watch them a little bit more intently, pretend like I’m a certain player on the ice so I can kind of mimic routes,” he said.

“It’s hard when you don’t get the reps in practice and you’re not getting as many touches in spots like that, so it’s been difficult. More than anything, it just sucks mentally to not be around the guys and not be a part of the group in good times and bad. ... (I’m) happy to be back now. Never going to take it for granted.”

Playoff implications

A one-goal loss stings a lot less than one where you were never really in it — but they count the same in the standings.

While the Mammoth can take encouragement from the fact that they seldom lose by more than one goal, they should also be aware that they’re slowly falling in the playoff race.

They’re tied in points with the San Jose Sharks, who hold the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, but the Sharks have played two fewer games.

The Los Angeles Kings hold the other wild card spot and a two-point lead with three games in hand over the Mammoth. Utah’s desperation needs to kick in right about now.

Every point will matter in April. If they lose sight of that now, they could find themselves golfing early again. On the flip side, bearing down and willing themselves into wins could pay off in the form of playoff hockey at the Delta Center.

Goal of the game

Daniil But’s first NHL goal

One of But’s strongest assets is his close-range shooting ability. He’s in the 81st percentile, league-wide, in terms of hardest shots this season, even though he just barely broke double digits in games played.

And, as everyone learned on Friday, he doesn’t need the puck to be on his forehand to be lethal. Look at that backhander.