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Kinkaid shines as Devils bounce-back with win over Rangers |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Five takeaways from the New Jersey Devils' 3-2 win over the rival New York Rangers:
1) Keith Kinkaid was spectacular in his season debut and most certainly the biggest reason the Devils came away with two points. They were completely asleep for the first 20-25 minutes of the game and were routinely hemmed into their own zone. Despite that, Kinkaid came up big time and time again and kept the Devils in the game until they finally found their footing. The Devils took it to the Rangers in the 2nd and gave Kinkaid some support, but they reverted back to their 1st-period quality in the 3rd and Kinkaid had to be very sharp again. He was and the Devils are surprisingly 4-1-0 as a result. It's amazing what kind of an impact good goaltending can have.
2) Pavel Zacha has followed up a strong preseason with a poor start to the year even though he's (mostly) been given ideal playing circumstances centering Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. He has just two shots in five games at 5v5 (only Will Butcher has less among regulars) and has gone extended periods of play without creating any legitimate chances. Last night, things reached a new low as John Hynes benched Zacha for the final 35-40 minutes of the game. Hopefully, it serves as a wake-up call and gets Zacha going because the Devils need him to be a key piece -- not just now, but in the future.
3) Some of Jesper Bratt's offense has dried up, as expected, but I thought he had another pretty good showing against the Rangers. He finished tied for 1st on the team in 5v5 scoring chances and used his speed to draw a penalty, which I think helped start to get the Devils going.
4) If Miles Wood wants to stay in the lineup, he needs to continue doing exactly what he's doing because the coaching staff is no doubt thrilled with what they have seen of late. He's using his speed to take the top off the defense, he's playing with an edge, and he continues to be rewarded with goals for living around the net.
5) Steve Santini had another solid game and continues to look *really* steady away from Mirco Mueller. When the latter gets back into the lineup, I think they should remain split up because Santini seems capable of holding his own vs stiff competition while Mueller, well, does not. At least not yet.
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