The New Jersey Devils really needed Keith Kinkaid to pull off his best game of the season. He was miraculous in the team’s win against the Nashville Predators.
Over the past two months, there haven’t been many times that the New Jersey Devils can say their goalie won them a game by himself. Obviously, it’s just a saying we use in sports, but one that really held true in the Devils win against the Nashville Predators.
Keith Kinkaid carried the Devils on his back against a team with a ten-game win streak, and came out on top. It wasn’t easy either.
The Predators peppered Kinkaid with 36 shots, and most of them were very good. Let’s take a look at what he was up against.
He somehow got the glove on a puck after a pass across the ice, as you can see by John Smith’s tweets.
Here’s Kinkaid keeping a puck off its trajectory, taking no chances with it trickling towards the net.
Then there was this bit of ridiculousness from Kinkaid off the stick of Kyle Turris.
Again, thank you to John Smith on Twitter for the video highlights every game.
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Now, back to the point. Kinkaid was out of his mind tonight, stopping 34 of 36 shots. It was almost mirrored by his performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins two weeks ago, where he stopped 36 of 38 shots against, and the Devils won 3-2.
In seven of the last eight games, Kinkaid allowed two goals or less. In the other game, the Montreal Canadiens scored four, most of which came in garbage time. It seems whatever was ailing Kinkaid a month ago is now gone.
This was one of the biggest wins of the season as far as importance. The Devils started their six-game road trip against the defending Western Conference champs coming off a ten-game win streak. Even with the late blown lead, winning this game in a shootout means the world. Whether Kinkaid deserves more starts over a returning Cory Schneider is a conversation to be had later. Right now, just enjoy the win.