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Some notes on how Devils' players are faring at the World Hockey Championships, the Albany Devils' playoff run and more:
1) Keith Kinkaid was given the nod in USA's tournament opener against Canada and the result wasn't pretty.
Kinkaid got off to a rough start allowing two goals in the first 10 minutes. After that he settled in nicely allowing just one goal over the next 35 minutes of action and making several big saves in the process.
Heading into the 3rd period it was only 3-1 Canada, which wasn't a bad thing for USA given the discrepancy in talent.
Kinkaid caved down the stretch, though, as he allowed a couple weak goals and essentially undid his good work following a rough opening 10 minutes.
This wasn't really a problem for Kinkaid when he bursted onto the scene in 2014-15 and seemingly stood on his head every time he played despite often matching up against playoff bound teams.
This past season, though, Kinkaid was exposed on a more frequent basis and, at times, wasn't able to stop the bleeding after allowing a bad goal.
He still has the leg up on Scott Wedgewood to serve as Cory Schneider's backup next season but I wouldn't be surprised if Wedgewood steals the job in camp.
He showed well in his time with the big club and dominated the AHL by posting a .933SV%(!) in 22 regular season appearances.
Wedgewood has followed that up with a solid start to his post-season owning a 4-2 record and a .916SV%.
2) If USA's 1st game is any indication of how the Devils' players will be utilized in this tournament, don't expect to see much of Miles Wood or Steve Santini.
Wood played limited minutes, and took a minor penalty, while Santini served as the 7th defenseman for much of the game. He did play a little more as it progressed but that likely had more to do with Jake McCabe being banged up as opposed to anything else.
David Warsofsky, on the other hand, took a regular shift at even-strength against Canada's top two forward lines and was a staple on the top power play unit. John Hynes' team isn't very experienced so it's probably safe to say he's going to lean on some of the veterans; especially ones he is familiar with.
3) The Albany Devils fell to the Toronto Marlies by a 5-3 score on Friday night and will now head home with the series tied at one apiece.
The Devils actually out shot the Marlies 43-32 - including 19-9 in the 3rd period - but Antoine Bibeau was excellent in goal and proved to be too much for the A-Devs to overcome.
Reid Boucher (one assist, seven shots), Damon Severson (five shots) and Joseph Blandisi (three shots, four penalty minutes) provided the most noteworthy stat lines among the Devils' young players.
Pavel Zacha, meanwhile, did not play with a suspected concussion. There were conflicting reports about whether he was injured but him sitting out Game 2 definitely provides clarity.
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