Keith Kinkaid Injured As The Devils Cruise Past The Carolina Hurricanes
By David Berger
Good news is the New Jersey Devils were able to get an important win against the bottom feeding Carolina Hurricanes. They jumped on Carolina early and cruised to an easy 3-1 victory. The bad news is that Keith Kinkaid had to leave the game midway through the second period with a lower body injury – possibly a groin. That was a tough thing to see as the rookie netminder was in the midst of a fantastic shutout performance making 17 saves. Kinkaid has been impressive in limited duty this season and looks like a perfect Robin to Cory Schneider‘s Batman. Schneider came in and shut the door making 14 saves of his own. So the Devils got a big win, but they also lost a key performer in the process.
Feb 20, 2015; Newark, NJ, USA;New Jersey Devils left wing Mike Cammalleri (23) is congratulated by teammates New Jersey Devils defenseman Adam Larsson (5) and defenseman Andy Greene (6) after he scored an empty net goal against the Vancouver Canucks during third period at Prudential Center. The New Jersey Devils won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Promising news is that Lou Lamoriello said Kinkaid felt something in his leg and he should be fine. A lengthy absence would have been tough for the Devils. He’s only Cory Schneider’s backup, but he’s extremely important in spelling Schneider every few games. Every team in the NHL needs a reliable backup and the Devils have that in Kinkaid. If Keith had to miss any time, the Devils would have likely called up veteran Scott Clemmensen whose best days are behind him. That would probably mean Schneider would have had to play almost every remaining game and that’s not good either. We don’t want our #1 to get any more worn down, so let’s be thankful Kinkaid’s injury isn’t too serious.
As for the rest of tonight’s game, it was a strong performance by New Jersey. Although they were playing one of the worst teams in the league, they still had to show up and take the two points. All the action – the good stuff anyway – happened in the first 20 minutes. Ten minutes in, Scott Gomez gathered the puck and dished to the oncoming Adam Larsson who ripped a slapper that was deflected home by Tuomo Ruutu. Larsson now has four assists in the last two games and is really finding his offense. As for Gomez, it was his 18th assist of the season and 22nd point in 35 games. For persepctive, Gomer had just 27 points the last two seasons combined.
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Two minutes later the Devils would double their lead when Adam Henrique stole the puck and beat Anton Khudobin five hole on a breakaway. That was big for Henrique as he missed the net on an earlier break and has had trouble finishing breakaways this season. Henrique now leads the Devils with 31 points (12 G, 19 A). New Jersey would cap off the period with a brilliant play as Mike Cammalleri found Jordin Tootoo who went around the net and dished to a cutting Andy Greene. This was huge for Greene as it was his first goal of the season, ending a 70 game goal drought. What was most impressive was the move by Tootoo who has been incredible as of late. Perhaps his role is too big, but I’m done fighting it. Why fight what’s working, right?
Keith Kinkaid got hurt, but the Devils picked up a big win in their hunt to make a late run at the playoffs. Do you believe? Well they’re just eight points out with 23 games left. You never know! If they want any chance, they need to win games like tonight and keep building on it. They’ll look to get a four game winning streak Monday night against the Arizona Coyotes.