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Kinkaid Leads Devils to Shootout Victory over Caps

The Devils were making their one and only appearance before a national audience on the NBC Sports Network tonight against the Washington Capitals. With their recent play, they were not expected to wow anyone just tuning in to a Devils game for the first time. Instead, the Devils ended up winning what could only be described as a goaltender’s duel in a shootout.

Simply put, Keith Kinkaid, who got the start over Cory Schneider tonight, was phenomenal. He played his game of the season, standing on his head at times for the Devils and helping the team prevail over a fire-power laden Caps.

Tonight was the (now) annual “dad’s trip” for the Devils. The player’s dads were in attendance at Verizon Center to watch their sons play. And like last year when they saw a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, the dads were treated to one of the Devils’ better efforts this season as well.

But the Devils would have to do it without Vern Fiddler and Taylor Hall. Both are out with injuries. Hall’s injury is day-to-day and the team insists that it is not related to either his knee injury from earlier in the year or the high stick he took in the last Pittsburgh game. Jon Merrill and Pavel Zacha were also scratched for New Jersey while Yohann Auvitu was back in on the blue line and Luke Gazdic was back in up front. Jacob Josefson was also medically cleared from his concussion and played tonight.

In goal, Washington sent out their Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Braden Holtby who made 26 saves on 27 Devils shots and was only minimally tested. As mentioned, the Devils countered with Kinkaid, who made 43 saves on 44 Caps shots. But again, he was fantastic for most of the night, keeping the Devils in a game that could have just as easily have gotten out of control in favor of the Capitals.

The Capitals have won seven straight against the Devils, which is not their franchise record for wins over the Devils. They have won eight straight over New Jersey twice.

The game got off to a nice start for the Devils, Michael Cammalleri just 6:10 into the game, snuck behind the defense with a partial breakaway. He was stopped by Holtby, but Karl Alzner crashed into his own net. The goal cage came off of its moorings and Alzner was called for delay of game. The resulting power play did not produce a shot for the Devils. In fact, the Devils were 0-for-4 on the night with the man advantage. Washington was also 0-for-4, but did pick up a shorthanded goal.

But as good as the first period started out for the Devils, it ended just as roughly. New Jersey was under siege in the final minutes of what would turn out to be a scoreless period because of Kinkaid. The Devils were outshot 14-8 in the first period by the Capitals.

Just 1:05 into the second frame, the Devils broke the scoreless tie when PA Parenteau picked off a Washington breakout pass through the slot and fired on Holtby, scoring over his shoulder, glove side. The goal was unassisted and the Devils had the 1-0 lead.

The Devils would have a few chances to double their lead. On a 2-on-1, Devante Smith-Pelly shot wide after the pass rolled off of his stick.

Washington also had their chances, like Jay Beagle’s shorthanded opportunity while the Devils were killing off a penalty in the early stages of the second.

The Caps would eventually tie things up at 3:50 into the third when Beagle made a nice pass from his knees to Daniel Winnik, who finally beat Kinkaid to tie things up at one. Colonia, New Jersey native John Carlson had the secondary assist on that goal.

And that was it for the scoring in regulation, as fans just sat back and watched the Keith Kinkaid Show all night – and into overtime, where he stopped some nice shots. Alex Ovechkin had an opportunity to win things with seconds on the clock in the OT period when he misfired in front of the net. Miles Wood created some opportunities for the Devils with his forechecking and Adam Henrique was stopped by Holtby on a breakaway in the OT as well.

When things could not be settled in overtime and both teams had gained a point in the Metropolitan Division standings, it was up to a shootout to dole out the second point.

Kinkaid made a save on TJ Oshie in the first round, as Washington elected to shoot first, then Mike Cammalleri converted for the Devils, making a nice series of moves to beat Holtby. Evgeny Kuznetsov was then stymied by Kinkaid and Jacob Josefson – playing in his first game back for the Devils – beat Holtby to win the game for the Devils. Josefson seems to be almost automatic in shootouts and he did not disappoint tonight.

Next up, the Devils will faceoff with the Capitals again on Saturday in a 1 PM New Year’s Eve matinee at home. You would have to think, based on how he played tonight, that John Hynes would have to go back to Kinkaid Saturday afternoon. He just seemed to be playing with a lot more confidence than Cory has of late and would seem to be the logical choice to go with.

It will be the second half of the home-and-home series with the Caps and hopefully the Devils can get something going here, working to climb back into it to at least make things a little more respectable this season.

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Cammalleri Returns, Devils Steal Shootout Win from Toronto

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Devils returned from a brutal western road trip looking to snap a three game losing streak at home, a place where they have been almost unbeatable this year. They have not dropped a game in regulation at Prudential Center yet and, despite Maple Leaf super rookie Auston Matthews’ best efforts, that streak would continue tonight. New Jersey took a shootout victory from the Leafs, 5-4.

Good news right off the bat for the Devils was that Michael Cammalleri was returning from his personal hiatus. He had left the team in Buffalo to return to New Jersey where his daughter had come down with a bad case of pneumonia, was hospitalized and needed surgery. She is better now and resting at home and Michael had spent time practicing with the Princeton University Tigers hockey team during his time off to keep in game shape. He would go on to play a huge part in tonight’s game.

The Devils also got Yohann Auvitu back, as he said he was hurt for about 48 hours after a puck hit his index finger in the Dallas game. He was a healthy scratch for the other two games he missed in California. To accommodate him in the lineup, Jon Merrill would be sitting. Kyle Palmieri was also a scratch for the Devils as he is still dealing with an injury.

Coming into this game, the Maple Leafs had exactly one road win this year and were following up a loss at the Air Canada Centre last night to Carolina on a late shorthanded goal. The Devils would be able to leapfrog Boston in the standings with a win tonight and take a playoff spot for the first time since their losses in California.

The Sharks game was also John Hynes’ 100th game coached in the NHL. So congratulations to him on that milestone.

In goal for Toronto was Jhonas Enroth, who made 26 saves on 30 Devils shots for the night. He finished the night with his goals against average at 4.21 and just a .866 save percentage in just 215 minutes played. Rough numbers for sure.

The Devils sent out Cory Schneider to oppose him. He made 27 saves on 31 Leafs shots. He also came up big in some major spots for the Devils.

The Maple Leafs came out firing in the first period. Auston Matthews scored his first of the night at the 10:33 mark, with an assist to Zach Hyman. He was able to chip a shot by Cory on only Toronto’s second shot of the game. The goal ended Matthews’ 13 game goal drought. However, Toronto has yet to win a game that Matthews has scored in this season. That includes his opening night four goal performance against Ottawa.

But the Leafs were rolling with a 1-0 lead. At 11:36 of the first frame, PA Parenteau would take a slashing call against Morgan Rielly and sit for two minutes. With time expiring on that penalty kill, Nazem Kadri buried one from Matthews and William Nylander to make it 2-0 Leafs.

About five and a half minutes later, at 18:52, Matthews netted his second of the period and his third point of the night from Hyman and Connor Brown to put the Maple Leafs comfortably ahead 3-0.

Things looked dire for New Jersey. But all it took was 4 minutes and 58 seconds and the Devils would climb back into things.

First, at 32 seconds, Nick Lappin kept the puck in the Toronto zone, getting it to Kyle Quincey, who passed to Michael Cammalleri at the far circle. Cammalleri connected with Travis Zajac, who found room to beat Enroth and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Then, at the 1:12 mark, Martin Marincin was called for high sticking Pavel Zacha. The Devils were on the power play. Now, for the last 29 tries with the extra man, this had really meant nothing. Beau Bennett had also not scored a goal yet as a New Jersey Devil through the first month and a half of the season. This time was different this time, however.

At 3:10, Andy Greene passed point-to-point to Cammalleri. He fired and the puck bounced off of Devante Smith-Pelly’s backside right to the stick of Bennett. Bennett put the puck behind Enroth and then looked skyward, mouthing “Thank God!” It was not pretty, but Bennett’s goal scoring drought was over and the Devils’ power play futility was done all in one fell swoop. It was 3-2 Toronto.

The game tying goal would come off of the stick of Cammalleri, who, after this goal, had three points on the night – equaling Matthews. It came at 5:30 when Greene slid the puck to Zajac at the far circle. He shot from the top of the faceoff circle and the rebound came right out to Cammalleri, who promptly corralled it and shot it by Enroth. The game was knotted at three.

Toronto coach Mike Babcock elected to use his timeout at this point in order to settle his young team down. That decision would go on to play an important role in the outcome of the game.

Things would remain that way despite some tries from Toronto. Nylander hit the post on a power play opportunity late in the second. Finally, the Leafs broke through when Matt Martin scored his first of the year at 9:26 from Nikita Soshnikov and Nikita Zaitsev. Toronto had retaken the lead, 4-3.

But the Devils were not done. In the third period, they would tie things up again when, at 5:50, the Devils held the zone and Cammalleri kept the puck in for Zajac, who passed to Yohann Autvitu. The French defenseman fired on net and the puck went in to tie things up. Nick Lappin in front had initially gotten credit for the goal, but replays showed that he did not touch the puck on the way in.

What he did touch was Enroth’s stick blade with his skate, dragging it away from Enroth being able to make the save. Toronto could have challenged goalie interference on this – and probably have been successful – had they not used their timeout earlier in the second period. A break for the Devils and the game was now tied once more. Cammalleri, with the assist, also had a hand in each of the Devils’ goal scored so far.

Things would get tense for the Devils late in regulation. Middletown, New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk would nail the post with less than a minute left in the third period. But things stayed tied and we were headed for overtime.

The three-on-three period was back and forth intensity. Cory had had some miscommunication with his defensemen throughout the night at various times and nearly gave one up to Mitchell Marner when he tried to move the puck to a d-man and instead turned it over. Marner shot in close, but Cory was equal to the task.

Once the five minute OT had expired with things still not settled, it was time for the shootout.

Parenteau went first for New Jersey. He was stopped by Enroth. Cory Schneider then stopped Auston Matthews; Jacob Josefson scored for the Devils and then Cory stopped Marner. In two rounds of the shootout, Schneider had stopped two of the most offensively gifted young guns in the NHL.

After Cammalleri was stopped, it all came down to Nikita Soshnikov. Cory stopped him too and the Devils had pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and picked up two points.

The Devils remained without a regulation loss at home as they begin their mini home stand. Next up is Detroit at home for the Devils on Friday. I will be attending that game, so the report will be a little bit late. Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!