Devils vie for home-and-home sweep of Capitals (Dec 31, 2016)
The Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils conclude a home-and-home set and close out calendar year on Saturday afternoon when they square off at the Prudential Center.
The Devils skated to a 2-1 shootout victory in Washington on Thursday night, their first win over the Capitals since December 2014, a span of seven head-to-head meetings.
Keith Kinkaid, New Jersey's backup goaltender, made his ninth start of the season Thursday and turned in a magnificent game-stealing performance. He stopped 43 of 44 shots through regulation and overtime, and then both shots he faced in the shootout.
"He made some unbelievable saves," Devils forward Miles Wood told NorthJersey.com. "Overall, we owe this one to him."
However, the question remains whether Kinkaid will get the opportunity to follow up his best outing of the season with another start on Saturday. Devils coach John Hynes did not announce after practice Friday if Kinkaid or the team's No. 1 goaltender, Cory Schneider, would get the call in the rematch.
"Keith got a lot of work (Thursday) night, a lot of shots," Hynes said. "He came up big. He hasn't played a lot of time going back to back. It's how he feels, how are we going to deal with Cory, those are the things you want to take into consideration. That's why we haven't made a decision yet."
Thursday's victory was only the second for New Jersey in its last 11 games (2-8-1). The Devils have not won consecutive games since Dec. 3-6.
P.A. Parenteau scored New Jersey's only non-shootout goal in the win over Washington. Parenteau has scored goals in consecutive games and has netted five in his last eight contests.
The Capitals enter play Saturday with just one win in their last five games (1-2-2). Three of their last four losses (0-2-1) have come against Metropolitan Division rivals, including Thursday's against New Jersey. The Capitals have already suffered more regulation defeats within their division this year (4-6-4) then all last season when they posted a 20-5-5 record in such games.
Despite the home-ice loss their last time out, the Capitals did plenty of good things against the Devils. They unleashed a season-high 44 shots on goal, while attempting 78 shots in total.
"I thought we played pretty well and had chances," Washington's Jay Beagle said told the team's web site. "It was just a matter of putting it in the back of the net. (Kinkaid) stood on his head."
Following practice on Friday, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said that he does not expect any lineup changes for the rematch against the Devils. Rookie Jakub Vrana, who has only one goal in 12 games this season, likely will be a healthy scratch for the second straight contest.
Trotz added that the struggling Evgeny Kuznetsov, who has only three goals in 33 games and who had an egregious turnover on Parenteau's goal Thursday, would remain in the lineup for Washington.
"(Kuznetsov is) an important player for us," Trotz told reporters Friday. "If I sat out everybody who turns the puck over or has a bad shift in a game, I'd run out of players. He knows he made a mistake. He understands that. So, we move on."
While the Capitals have a healthy roster, the Devils will once again be without two injured forwards. Taylor Hall is out on a day-to-day basis with a lower-body injury; while Vernon Fiddler is expected to miss the next three-to-four weeks, also with a lower-body injury.
