New Jersey Devils: Keith Kinkaid Excelling In International Play

The New Jersey Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid has been one of the most valuable players for Team USA in the World Championships. This is huge for his confidence after flaming out in the playoffs.

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again. The New Jersey Devils don’t make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs without goalie Keith Kinkaid. He was out of this world for the last two months of the season. We’ve gone through the numbers (they’re in this article if you still need them), and we know based on the eye test that Kinkaid was one of the best in the league towards the end of the season.

Then, in the playoffs, Kinkaid was awful. I know, the defense in front of him was not very good, but that’s not the best excuse when playing the Tampa Bay Lightning. I don’t want to be one of the many analysts claiming that head coach John Hynes made a mistake starting him. That’s just not true. Cory Schneider couldn’t stop shots from the coaches, let alone the Lightning towards the end of the season.

As we all know, Kinkaid was pulled in game three, and Schneider found some of his early season magic. The Devils lost the series in five games, but that’s about as good a result as one could expect after the first two games.

Coming off the season, one could imagine Kinkaid would want a break. Who knows where his head was at after losing his job during the biggest moment. Also, he played a ton of games since January. Nobody would blame him for wanting a break.

He didn’t want a break, however. He wanted to keep playing hockey.

Kinkaid won the starting job for Team USA in the World Championships. Coming out of the gate, he was good. He stopped Connor McDavid and Team Canada for a 5-4 shootout win.

Over the next two games for Team USA, Kinkaid was perfect. No, literally, he was perfect. Against Denmark and Germany, Kinkaid recorded back to back shutouts. Obviously, that isn’t the best competition, but coming off a win against Canada Kinkaid clearly has the momentum.

This is great news for the Devils. Kinkaid could have lost all his confidence in the playoffs. He faced one of the most high-powered offenses in the NHL, and he wasn’t able to make the saves. That changed so far in the World Championships.

Kinkaid has the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done in 85 years. Team USA has not won the World Championships since 1933. It’s true. America has not prevailed in this yearly tournament since The Great Depression.

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This tournament is obviously flawed. It’s full of the best of the rest. That just shows the depth of countries like Canada or Russia, where the best Americans are in the NHL playoffs and the drop off is huge.

If Kinkaid can carry USA to a gold medal (still very far away), then he’s going to gain some serious popularity going into the offseason. He already turned heads in his drive for the playoffs. This would officially put him on the map. Sure, most of American hockey fans will enjoy the Capitals take on the Lightning, or the Golden Knights continue their miraculous run, but if USA can win a gold medal hockey fans will watch.

Kinkaid really needed this performance. Can he continue this momentum into next season? Will the Devils use this new-found notoriety to boost Kinkaid’s trade value? These are questions that need time to answer. Either way, this run by Kinkaid is great to see. Hopefully he can hold it until May 20th.