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.

Devils Earn Point in Fantastic Outing versus Caps, Lose in OT

The Devils had a near-Herculean task on their hands. Even after blanking the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, they had to fly home and take on the best team overall in the NHL this year, the Washington Capitals. This game had blood bath written all over it (in favor of the Capitals).

What all those who witnessed it would see was a titanic defensive struggle that was not devoid of excitement.

In the end, though, Washington would emerge victorious as the Devils fell in overtime for only the second time this season.

Neither team had a morning skate yesterday, as the Caps were resting up for the Playoffs (of which they have already clinched a spot – the only team in the Eastern Conference to do so) and the Devils had just come in from Pittsburgh after playing the night before. The Capitals, with the win tonight, can clinch the President’s Trophy (first place overall in NHL regular season and home ice throughout the Playoffs) as soon as their game tomorrow.

Some injury notes for the Capitals, as TJ Oshie sat out with an illness and Colonia, New Jersey-native John Carlson was back in the lineup after having surgery for a lower body injury and missing the last 13 games for them. He would play a significant role in this game going forward.

The goaltending matchup was a good one. Scott Wedgewood got his third straight start in net for the Devils. In Pittsburgh on Thursday, he became only the second goalie to earn a shutout in his second NHL start in Devils history. The other was Sam St. Laurent in 1985-86. In this game, Wedgewood made 25 saves on 26 shots.

For the Caps, Braden Holtby continued on his quest to break Martin Brodeur’s single season wins record. He got closer with a shutout OT victory. He stopped all 22 Devils shots he saw.

Although the game was scoreless for three periods, does not mean there was no action. Evgeny Kuznetsov was stopped by Wedgewood in the middle of the first period and was not able to get a shot off on the rebound. This was a big save early on for Wedgewood and got his confidence going quickly. Wedgewood would come up big time and time again. All this while the Devils spent most of the first period hemmed in their own zone. Things got more back-and-forth as the game would wear on and both Wedgewood and Holtby would be equal to the task each time.

The Devils defense came up big all night too. Blocked shots played a big part in them getting the point tonight. It also showed on the penalty kill. The Devils held Washington 0-for-2 on the power play, including a huge kill when Damon Severson was called for interference on Alex Ovechkin with just over two minutes left in the game. Conversely, the Devils power play went 0-for-3 on the night, including Ovechkin going off for tripping midway through the third.

Some injury scares in the second and third periods, as Stephen Gionta took a puck to the ankle mid-second, but would return. Right after that, Andy Greene was shaken up, but did not leave the game. Early in the third, Adam Larsson would catch a puck to the mouth blocking a shot; he would be bloodied, but would also return to the ice.

So, the game stayed scoreless through 60 minutes of hockey and headed into OT. The last time the Devils had played a scoreless OT game was in the 2011-12 season against the Colorado Avalanche that the Devils eventually won in a shootout. The Devils had also never been swept in a regular season series by the Washington Capitals in their history.

But that would change off the stick of a New Jersey-bred player making his return to the lineup. John Carlson would score the game winner, beating Wedgewood to the stick side with a slapshot at 2:17 elapsed in overtime. Assists went to noted Devil-killer Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson. Moments prior, Wedgewood had stopped Nate Schmidt on a breakaway to keep the game going.

If there is any doubt that Holtby could be a good guy to overtake Marty in the record books it is this classy move: as he was skating towards his teammates to celebrate the win, he met Wedgewood coming towards the Devils bench, he tapped the rookie on the pads as they passed to let him know that he played a good game and that there was much respect for him. Wedgewood’s shutout streak ended at a little over two full games. Wedgewood was again named the second star of the game by the attending media.

Next up for New Jersey, the Devils head to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes at 5 PM Easter Sunday. The Canes are a team in a very similar situation to the Devils in terms of still being on the playoff bubble. Look for a competitive game between two teams fighting for a spot. Though if anything can top this defensive gem the Devils and Capitals played tonight, it would have to be near-perfect.