New Jersey Devils: Top 5 Saves This Season

Number One

Keith Kinkaid on Jeff Skinner, game 76

Jeff Skinner comes in all alone with the Hurricanes already leading 2-1. If he scores this goal, the complexity of the game changes. The Devils could have very well lost the game altogether, which would have hampered the Devils’ playoff hope substantially. Jeff Skinner puts a move on Keith Kinkaid to get himself an empty net to shoot at, but Keith Kinkaid refuses to give up, reaching back with the blade of his stick. Somehow, the puck hits the stick of Kinkaid and stays out of the net, and the Devils go on to win the game in dramatic fashion.

The emotional rollercoaster of this play, combined with the absolute desperation from Keith Kinkaid and the importance of this game, is what makes this the number one save. Watching the game live, Devils fans’ hearts dropped when they saw a breakaway develop out of an innocent play, and then completely sunk as they watched Skinner get around Kinkaid. It looked like putting the puck in the net was all but a formality, and the Devils appeared well on their way to a regulation loss.

But on a play that sums up the Devils season, Kinkaid refused to give up on the play. The Devils were counted out at the start of the year, and then again as they started to slide in January, and then once more in March, as the Panthers were hot and the Devils were sliding and facing a hellish slate littered with playoff opponents.

But they refused to give into the narrative that they would have to wait another season to get a taste of the playoffs. And Kinkaid would not watch the puck enter his net without at least putting up a final fight.

Next: New Jersey Devils: Top 5 Goals This Season

Maybe Kinkaid is not the best goalie in the league, and maybe the Devils are not the most skilled team in the NHL. But neither of them are going down without a fight. Underestimate them at your own peril.

All statistics courtesy of Hockey Reference, unless otherwise noted