THIS IS THE PITTS
Penguins get best of rangers, backup goalie
This did not quite work out exactly as Keith Kinkaid had hoped, but the goaltender played well enough in Tuesday’s empty-net abetted 4-2 defeat in Pittsburgh in his first NHL start in 465 days that he might earn another one quite quickly.
Indeed, presuming that Igor Shesterkin is not fully recovered from the groin strain he sustained last Thursday in New Jersey, it’s possible that Kinkaid could get the call over the struggling Alex Georgiev for a second straight time when the Blueshirts move to Boston for the first of a two-game set on Thursday.
“I’ve been hoping for a break,” Kinkaid said before his first start since Nov. 30, 2019 as a member of the Canadiens. “You hate to see the way that it happened, but I plan on taking absolute control of this opportunity and prove that I belong in this league.”
The 31-year-old netminder from Farmingville of Suffolk County, was economical, poised and sharp throughout and especially so early in the match when his team was under constant pressure. The game flipped entirely in the third period, the Rangers outshooting the Penguins 15-1 over the final 20 minutes while storming Tristan Jarry’s Bastille, with the lone Pittsburgh shot the game-sealing empty-netter off Sidney Crosby’s stick at 19:27.
“He played solid,” David Quinn said of Kinkaid. “I thought he made some saves early that allowed us to weather the storm. I thought they blitzed us pretty early in the game and I thought we were fortunate to get out of that first period 1-1 when they were all over us for an extended period of time.”
A year after dealing with the three goal tender carousel in which a fellow named Henrik Lundqvist ultimately found himself as the odd man out of the rotation, Quinn has at least a short-term decision to make. If not Shesterkin, does the coach allow Georgiev to sit again and put in heavy practice sessions with goaltending coach Benoit Allaire?
Georgiev is 4-3-2 with a save percentage that has dipped below .900 to .897 and a GAA that has risen to 3.03. According to Naturalstattrick.com, he ranks 31st in GSAA (Goals Saved Above Average) among the 44 goaltenders who have played at least 500 minutes at -2.66 and last in High Quality save percentage at .707. Shesterkin, meanwhile, ranks sixth in GSAA at 5.64 and 10th in High Quality save percentage at .838.
So, no, there is no goaltending controversy here, only a question whether Kinkaid will get another shot with Georgiev off his game.
Kinkaid, who shares a birthday with George Steinbrenner and Uncle Sam, made 132 starts with the Devils over the five-year stretch from 2014-15 through 2018-19 while compiling an overall record of 6455-17 with a .906 save percentage and 2.90 GAA. He used an oldschool approach, active, athletic, two-pad stacks and all that.
But the netminder’s game went sideways following that, going 1518-6/.891/3.36 the following year while eased out with the emergence of Mackenzie Blackwood. Kinkaid spent much of last season in the AHL after signing during the summer of 2019 as a free agent with Montreal, for whom he started five times in October and November. After signing a two-year free-agent deal with the Rangers in October, he went back to school with Allaire.
“It’s an incredible opportunity. I’ve been waiting for this opportu
nity and feel really ready,” said Kinkaid, who has spent most of the year on the taxi squad. “I’ve learned a lot the last few years and Benny has helped me tremendously along the way here.
“I don’t think I went through too much adversity in my career leading up to [2019-20], we’d made the playoffs with the Devils, and I guess you really do learn more about yourself and, you know, the ups and downs of the league at that top-tier level all the time. I think that Benny has definitely helped me confidence-wise and technical-wise.”
Kinkaid was stout early, allowing his team to gain both its equilibrium and the lead at 9:16 of the first period when Jack Johnson’s drive from the left point banked in off defenseman John Marino. But that was essentially the sum and substance of the offense for the first 40 minutes, Pittsburgh able to control possession and the neutral zone in taking a 3-1 lead into the third period on goals late in the first and second plus a shorthanded goal early in the second.