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Devils Win OT Thriller in LA

The 2015-16 New Jersey Devils have been a hard team to get a handle on. They have not gone on too many extended winning streaks, winning three or four here and there. Up until about two weeks ago, they had not been on any extended losing streaks. Then, suddenly, the losses started to pile up and their playoff hopes seemed all but lost. Now, they are back in the thick of things, albeit hanging on by a thread, in the Eastern Conference playoff race thanks to two wins over two of the top teams in the West.

The Devils came out of San Jose with a win but, although the Sharks are one of the top teams in the West, they are a notoriously bad team at home, so that could have been the Devils taking advantage of a team that has troubles at the SAP Center. Tonight, though, they would be facing the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are in first place in the Pacific Division, a true Stanley Cup contender and just an all-around good team. Getting a win in LA would be a little bit different.

The Devils would be without Jordin Tootoo, out with an upper body injury, as well as Damon Severson and Jacob Josefson. Jon Merrill was a game time decision and did not play.

Getting the start in net for Los Angeles was Jonathan Quick. Due to the injury to Cory Schneider, fans were denied seeing the two Team USA goalies going one-on-one prior to the World Cup of Hockey in September. Quick made 22 saves on the night, facing 24 Devils shots.

The Devils countered with Keith Kinkaid. Kinkaid had blanked the Kings the last time they met up last month at Prudential Center, earning his first career shutout. He made 22 saves while facing 23 Kings shots. On the MSG+ broadcast, Steve Cangialosi mentioned that after the Pittsburgh debacle a week ago, Kinkaid had a phone chat with Special Assignment Coach Jacques Caron, who, as longtime Devils goaltending coach, served as Martin Brodeur’s mentor. The results paid off, as Kinkaid has been stellar his last two games.

The Devils wasted no time getting on the board: at 1:12 of the first period, the New Jersey forecheck forced the puck out to Devante Smith-Pelly in the slot who shoveled it towards net. The rebound came out to Tyler Kennedy who hammered it home. It was 1-0 Devils and Smith-Pelly had another point as a Devil, meaning he has scored in all but one of his games in a New Jersey uniform (the home game against Pittsburgh where the Devils were held to one goal).

The Devils now had the lead and would nurse that for almost two periods. The ice was tilted towards the Devils in the first period. They had seven of the first eight scoring chances on the night (a lot of rebounds off initial shots) and Adam Henrique was stopped on a breakaway shorthanded in the middle of the first – one of several Devils shorthanded opportunities on the night.

And that was a big story: the Devils’ penalty kill. New Jersey had one power play to the Kings’ five (including a Bobby Farnham double minor for high sticking that came at 3:03 of the second that the Devils successfully killed off) and were successful in eliminated all of them. But they were playing with fire, as LA is a team with a very skilled power play. Still, it did not hinder the Devils tonight.

If the first period was tilted in the Devils’ favor, then the second was the complete opposite. Los Angeles had a lot of sustained pressure in the period and, in fact keeping the Devils pinned into their zone would directly lead to the Kings’ only goal. At 14:36 of the second, Anze Kopitar scored his 21st of the year from Milan Lucic and Alec Martinez. On the ice for the Devils were defensemen Seth Helgeson and David Warsofsky. They had been on the ice for a full 3:47 when the LA goal was scored. As the Kings had the Devils pinned in their zone, they could not get off for a change and were gassed by the end of their shift. Still, that was a remarkable sequence that earned Helgeson the hard hat as “game MVP” for the Devils. He only got it over Warsofsky because Kopitar’s stick clipped his mouth as Kopitar was following through on his shot, cutting Helgeson and drawing blood.

And with that Kings goal, Keith Kinkaid’s 98:31 shutout streak had come to an end. The Devils had been giving him lots of support by blocking shots. Helgeson had his share of blocked shots in his 3:47 on the ice for that shift, but the Devils have been doing this more in the last two games.

The game was now tied at one, but late in the second period the Devils would go on their only power play when Martinez was called for hooking. The call came at 19:16, so the bulk of the power play would come on fresh ice. Although the Devils did not score with the extra man, Quick was forced to make a great save on John Moore and the Devils showed good puck movement, something that was very encouraging going forward.

The third period was full of exciting end-to-end action, although somehow both teams went more than seven minutes mid-period without a shot. This was largely due, in the Devils end, to the sheer number of blocked shots that they had. The Devils ended up with 29 blocked shots in the game, to the Kings’ 11.

Regulation would end and three-on-three overtime would begin. Both teams came in with fantastic overtime records: the Devils were 7-1 and the Kings 10-2. As usual it was back-and-forth action in OT, hinging on puck possession. Henrique was stopped on a full breakaway by Quick about halfway through and things seemed to be headed to a shootout when, at 4:44, John Moore struck. He took a pass from Joseph Blandisi at the Devils blueline and skated it up ice, trying a wraparound. He mentioned in a postgame interview that he saw Kyle Palmieri in the slot and was going to pass to him, but as he came around the goal cage, saw that Quick was cheating off the post a little. He fired at the gap between goaltender and pipe and found his mark. The Devils had the 2-1 overtime win and were 2-0 in California so far.

The game winner by Moore was only the second goal by a Devils defenseman in 17 game (and the last one was an empty netter).

But New Jersey had the win and are going into the Honda Center looking to sweep the western road swing with a win in Anaheim on Monday. Though the Devils’ playoff hopes are still a bit murky at the moment, there is still a faint glimmer of hope. Teams above them still have games-in-hand and they are still about six points behind Detroit for the last wild card spot. But there is hope at this point and that is really all a fan needs right now.

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Kinkaid Registers First NHL Shutout against Kings

The Devils had an almost insurmountable task ahead of them. Coming off of an afternoon OT victory against the Flyers, they would be right back at it less than twenty four hours later against the powerful Los Angeles Kings.

It was ugly at times, but they succeeded in picking up four points on the weekend with a 1-0 win over those Kings and have (for the time being) moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, leapfrogging the Islanders.

There were no lineup changes to the Devils’ roster for the second half of the back-to-back aside from Keith Kinkaid getting the start over Cory Schneider. Eric Gelinas, Stefan Matteau and Tuomo Ruutu were the healthy scratches. Kinkaid will be getting a lot more ice time as the Devils have a few more back-to-backs coming up over the next month or so.

Kinkaid would make 27 saves as he posted his very first NHL shutout in his tenth NHL win. Facing him across the rink was Jhonas Enroth, getting the start for LA due to Jonathan Quick’s injury suffered in Boston last week. He made 17 saves on 18 total Devils shots.

Part of the reason for the Devils recent success has been their power play. They got another boost in that department in this game. The only goal of the game came after Los Angeles’ Vincent Lecavalier was called for hooking at 5:15 of the first period.

With the Devils a man up, Travis Zajac won the faceoff in the Kings’ zone, banking it off the wall to David Schlemko. He shot on net and the puck beat Enroth. Although Schlemko got credit for the goal, replays seemed to show Joseph Blandisi tipping the puck in off the heel of his stick. MSG+ analyst Ken Daneyko noticed it first, but as of the end of the game, the scoring had not been changed, although it still can be changed. That was the only goal of the game as the Devils led 1-0.

Late in the first, the Kings had a great scoring chance when Alec Martinez hit the crossbar. The Devils would go back on the power play a few moments later, when Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty was called for holding at 20:00 of the first. The Devils would have a full two minutes with the extra man at the start of the second period with a fresh sheet of ice.

The Devils would have a wonderful scoring chance on that power play when Jacob Josefson hit the post. The teams were now trading posts and both goalies were coming through with good play.

Because of that post, the Devils did not register their first shot of the second period until the 7:27 mark.

The Devils would go on another power play at 17:52 of the second when LA’s Nick Shore was called for holding Adam Henrique. The Devils had another good power play showing, with Lee Stempniak getting a good chance at a wide open net. The puck was just tipped away by Martinez at the last second.

The Devils had an injury scare when Tyler Kennedy took a shot to the knee at 8:44 of the third and limped off the ice. He did not return and there was no word on his status.

The main theme the announce crew was mentioning was stick positioning of the Devils. They were cutting down passing lanes and gaps by keeping their sticks where they needed to be. It allowed the team to weather a Kings offensive onslaught late. Keith Kinkaid also came up big with a few timely saves while nursing a 1-0 lead, his shutout was much deserved. Kinkaid’s childhood idol was Martin Brodeur and he is now only 124 shutouts from tying Marty for the NHL record.

Next up, the Devils welcome the Flyers back to The Rock. The Devils, including yesterday’s win, have gone 11-2-3 against Philadelphia since the start of the 2013 season. This also begins a run against Metro Division opponents over the next week that includes the Isles and the Capitals. The Devils will try to emulate what they did on Saturday and defeat the Flyers, hopefully kicking off a good week for them by getting some points in big Metro Division games.