Kinkaid notches 1st NHL win as Devils down Tampa

The New Jersey Devils snapped their losing streak with a surprising 3-2 win in the shootout over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Rock in Newark.
Patrik Elias scored the only goal of the shootout and scored earlier in the game (4) as well.
Adam Henrique (9 power play) scored the other goal for New Jersey.
Keith Kinkaid finished with 26 saves in net in earning his first NHL win in the victory.
The Devils will host Washington tomorrow night..

Hell Raisers

1) Very happy for Keith Kinkaid in net in his first NHL win.
Kinkaid was not only strong in net (loved those shootout stops!),but he showed poise after allowing the game tying goal with under a minute to go.
When we met Keith in Hershey,he was one of the nicer guys on the team and it's always nice to see good guys do well...

2) I've already seen some words about Kinkaid sharing the goalie job with Cory Schneider.
Let's not be too premature yet.
Cory Schneider will be given every opportunity to play himself out of the position considering the price paid (a first rounder in the top ten),the public relations hit (the thoughts of some (not me) that Schneider pushed Martin Brodeur out the door) and the contract (a long term one).
And he deserves those chances-the goaltending is not what ails this franchise.

3) What a pretty goal by Patrik Elias in the first period with a spin move around Matt Carle and then the shot over the shoulder and into the net.
For now,that's the Devils goal of the year..

4) What I didn't like was a lot of standing around on defense on both goals allowed by Keith Kinkaid.
Andy Greene and Jon Merril didn't clear the crease on the first Tampa goal and Peter Harrold and Greene again on the second one.
I'm a little more flexible on the second goal due to the six on five,but that is just lazy hockey.

5) The Devils fought off a four minute penalty when Michael Ryder's high stick cut Victor Hedman.
The penalty was not intentional and a bad break,but the penalty kill against a strong power play was a plus.

6) I really try to like Peter Harrold because he seems to be such a good fellow,but Peter DeBoer puts him in positions to fail.
Harrold is the 7th defenseman on a team and is playing due to Adam Larsson's mumps issues,so he moves up to play.
Fine,that is why you have depth.but why does Harrold of the bunch find the ice with under a minute to play with the Lightning thundering (like that play on words?) down with the goalie pulled in a gusty attempt to tie the game?
It's not fair to the player who is overmatched in that situation and it sets him up to fail.....