Canadiens: Keith Kinkaid Earns Shutout in NHL Return

I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect Keith Kinkaid to sign with an NHL team this offseason, after his disastrous stint with the Montreal Canadiens.

Moreover, not only did I not expect Kinkaid to sign with an NHL team this off-season, but I also didn’t expect him to start, let alone play, in an NHL game this season. Even more moreover, not only did I not expect Kinkaid to sign with an NHL team this off-season, or start, let alone play an NHL game this season, I also didn’t expect him to earn a shutout in said NHL start.

Well, consider me surprised, as that’s exactly what happened in Saturday night’s game against the Boston Bruins. There’s not a whole lot of new things to take away from the Canadiens game on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. We struggled to produce offensively once again, ran into a hot goaltender, struggled to get the puck out of the neutral zone, and failed to score once over the entire third period, when down by two goals. The Flames are now just two points back of the Canadiens for the fourth and final Playoff spot in the North Division, and Montreal needs to get their consistency, and offense going once more, if they stand a chance of widening that margin.

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However, in spite of the struggles evident on Saturday, there was at least one former Habs player who produced a feel-good story, in Kinkaid. Whilst much of the overall storylines from Saturday centered around the Buffalo Sabres losing streak hitting 10 games (jeez), Kinkaid quietly slipped in a solid performance, as his New York Rangers clinched a 4-0 win over the Boston Bruins. After enduring an extremely rough 2019-20 season, the saw Kinkaid’s stock fall further and further within the Canadiens organization, he’s managed to turn things around, at least for the time being, in his new home on Broadway.

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Jersey Devils in 2011, coming out of Union College, Kinkaid bided his time with the AHL’s Albany Devils for four seasons, before eventually earning the backup job for the Devils in 2014-15. After another three seasons spent riding shotgun to Cory Schneider, Kinkaid earned the starting job out of complete nowhere in 2017-18, posting an impressive 26-10-3 record as the Devils rode him and Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall to a playoff spot.

After an inconsistent 2018-19 season, however, being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets at that year’s trade deadline (whom he never played for), Kinkaid signed with the Canadiens on July 1st, 2018, to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million. After Antti Niemi’s shaky performance in 2018-19, Kinkaid was expected to give Canadiens starter and franchise player Carey Price a reliable second option once more. Instead, Kinkaid’s near year-long stint without seeing any action caught up to him, as he posted a 1-1-3 record with a 4.24 GAA, and .875 SVP.

With Montreal struggling out of the gate, the team eventually opted to placed Kinkaid on waivers, whereupon his struggles continued in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, posting a 3-7-3 record with a 3.44 GAA and .876 SVP. This eventually led to the Habs loaning Kinkaid to the Charlotte Checkers, as his poor performances were costing the Rocket key points as they fought for a playoff spot. While his play improved on a Charlotte team already out of playoff contention, posting a 2.24 GAA and 2-1-1 record, his future in hockey remained uncertain heading into the 2020 off-season, especially as he entered the end of his prime at 31 years old.

After signing a deal with the New York Rangers this past off-season, former Canadiens backup Keith Kinkaid recorded a shutout in his debut on Saturday.

In spite of this, the Rangers inked Kinkaid to a two-year deal worth $1.65 million, mainly to be a third option/player to leave exposed in the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. However, with the Rangers in the midst of a difficult season as backup Alexandar Georgiev has struggled to get his game going, Kinkaid was given a shot in net on Saturday, after a relief appearance last Sunday, and didn’t disappoint. With Artemi Panarin recording an assist in his return from a lengthy leave of absence, Kinkaid posted 18 saves as he earned the shutout. Facing fellow former Hab Jaroslav Halak, who has been excellent thus far this year in Boston as Tuukka Rask’s backup, Kinkaid put up the better performance, as the Rangers now sit just one game back of .500.

This hasn’t been an easy start for the Rangers this season overall, in spite of some bright spots. Former top defenseman Tony DeAngelo was let go by the team after engaging in multiple altercations with teammates and producing an absolute dumpster fire of a tirade on Twitter. Former top scorer last season Mika Zibanejad has struggled heavily to start in a contract year, and top prospects Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil are off to similarly slow starts. In spite of this, however, New York has gotten help from some unexpected sources, like former seventh round pick Colin Blackwell, and now Kinkaid.

As the Rangers look to turn this season around and build on a promising 2019-20 season, it remains to be seen whether Kinkaid will continue to be part of the reason why. While its likely that this start was just a spot appearance for what was meant to be an AHL addition, I wouldn’t put it past Kinkaid if he sees some more action in the future. At the end of the day, he’s still a talented goaltender, and there’s a reason he posted a 26-win season in his past.

While it was a rough Saturday night for the Canadiens, as the team looks to find their offensive touch once more and get back to their red-hot start to this season, some former Habs continue to produce away from the inconsistency that has plagued Montreal over the last few games, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Keith Kinkaid, becomes one such player.