Keith Kinkaid stopped 21 shots and had two saves in a shootout, lifting the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.  >> Read More

First Period

• 1:05 NJD Nico Hischier; Assists: Kyle Palmieri
• 16:44 ARI Conor Garland

Six years after meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals, the last-place teams in both conferences will get together Thursday night when the Los Angeles Kings host the New Jersey Devils at Staples Center.

The Kings (10-17-1) have already fired John Stevens as head coach and replaced him with Willie Desjardins, but he hasn't turned things around either. Stevens was let go on Nov. 4 after the Kings went 4-8-1 to start the season. They've gone 6-9-0 under Desjardins and have yet to win three in a row under either coach.

The Devils (9-12-5) are 0-3-3 over the past six games to fall to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Last season, the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils were two of the biggest surprises in the National Hockey League, each ending droughts by reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Neither team is going to sneak up on anyone this season, yet both are off to strong starts heading into their first meeting of 2018-19 on Thursday night at Prudential Center.

The Devils (4-0-0) are the only NHL team not to have lost a game so far. The Avalanche (3-1-2) are playing well despite losing two straight.

"It's a challenge playing these guys," Devils center Brian Boyle said. "They're a lot like us -- young, fast, hungry. It should be a good game." >> Read more

The Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead and Keith Kinkaid saved all 38 shots to keep the Kings off the board in a 3-0 shutout victory on Saturday at the Stapes Center. >> Box Score

Jesper Bratt scored two goals in the third period and Keith Kinkaid saved 28 of 29 shots to help the Devils defeat the Canadiens, 4-1, on Thursday at the Bell Centre. >> Read more

Keith Kinkaid allowed two goals late as the New Jersey Devils lost to the Dallas Stars, 2-1, Sunday at Prudential Center. >> Read more

First period:

• 11:02 NJ Blake Coleman

Second period:

First Period: 

• 10:34 BUF Matt Moulson (Power Play); Assists: Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart

Third Period 

• 3:13 NJD Yohann Auvitu; Assists: Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac

Overtime 

New Jersey Devils All-Star goaltender Cory Schneider will be sidelined at least two weeks with a sprained right knee.

Coach John Hynes says after the Devils' 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday that doctors say Schneider has a Grade 1 sprain and the goaltender will be evaluated again in two weeks.

Schneider was hurt Friday night in the third period against Dallas. He has posted a 26-23-6 record with four shutouts and a .923 save percentage.

Devils goaltender Cory Schneider left Friday's game against the Stars in the third period with an apparent injury after making a save.

Schneider jammed his right leg into the post trying to make a save. He favored his right leg as he skated off the ice with trainers.

Cory Schneider, Devils MVP, leaves game after jamming his right leg on the post https://t.co/3jx4dKxtnM

Tags: Cory Schneider, Keith Kinkaid

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Outstanding goaltending and defense made the New Jersey Devils a perennial playoff participant during the previous two decades.

That same formula may help them get back there after a three-year drought.

The surging Devils vie for a fourth straight win and second over the Philadelphia Flyers in four days when the longtime rivals face off Tuesday night.

With Alex Ovechkin back in tow, the Washington Capitals appear poised to resume their winning ways.

The visiting Capitals can build on their latest victory with a fifth consecutive win over the New Jersey Devils, who should have their No. 1 goaltender available Saturday.

Back from his one-game suspension for missing last weekend's All-Star festivities, Ovechkin scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 left in regulation to give Washington (36-9-4) a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Devils G Cory Schneider is dealing with a minor injury, which he says he's not worried about (Feb. 4).

Schneider isn't starting on Thursday night against Toronto, but said he was unsure whether it's due to the injury he's dealing with.

Devils coach John Hynes said after practice that he isn't concerned about Schneider.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) David Schlemko's tiebreaking goal with 3:05 left in the third period gave the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Bobby Farnham and Kyle Palmieri also scored for New Jersey, and Keith Kinkaid stopped 26 shots.

Eric Staal scored twice and Kris Versteeg had two assists for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward made 21 saves.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Marek Zidlicky scored twice and Thomas Greiss made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Islanders to a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, extending New York's streak without a regulation loss to 10 games.

John Tavares and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, are on an 8-0-2 stretch and moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division - one point ahead of the crosstown-rival Rangers. The Islanders trailed the Rangers by 11 points entering play on Nov. 25.

The Islanders also improved to 11-4-2 at home in their first season at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Leon Draisaitl and Taylor Hall each had a goal and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on Friday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

Oscar Klefbom, Jordan Eberle and Mark Letestu also scored and the Oilers won for just the second time in seven outings. Anders Nilsson made 19 saves.

The Devils lost their second in a row. Kyle Palmieri had their lone goal.

The three-headed monster of Keith Kinkaid, Jeff Frazee and Scott Wedgewood have combined for an .899 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average in 59 games.

Toss out Wedgewood's so-so three games, and Frazee and Kinkaid have combined for a 2.62 goals-against and .912 save percentage.

The 5-6, 170-pound winger's game is tenacious and feisty. Playing such a game has enabled him to record 85 points in 122 AHL games in Albany.

"He's playing with intensity, he's competing," Albany coach Rick Kowalsky said Sunday after Albany's 2-0 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. "He's not a big guy, but he's strong on the puck. He's been doing it all for us.

Yet, somehow Albany's power play found a way to be worse.

Albany was 0-for-3, failing to score on a 5-minute first-period major. Plus, when given a third-period man advantage, the Devils surrendered a shorthanded goal-- the game-winner in the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' 2-0 win.

College hockey tournaments?are in full swing, which means there are prospects to keep our eyes on.

• Devils' prospect Derek Rodwell scored a goal and was a plus-1 in the Fighting Sioux's 5-3, best-of-three contest against Michigan Tech.
• Blake Pietila, a forward for Tech, was a minus-3 in that same contest.
• Blake Coleman, for Miami University, had a tough night, finishing minus-1 in the Redhawks' 3-0 loss to Michigan State in the CCHA quarterfinals.
• Michigan defender Jon Merrill was a plus-1 in Michigan's 4-3 win over Western Michigan Friday night in the CCHA Quarters.

Being that the Devils are at the half-way point of the season (OK, a couple games past it but cut us some slack), we decided to do some ?grades? for this team. Originally, this was supposed to be one full post, but after compiling them, it seems better to break them up into different pieces today. Earlier, we gave you our grades for the forwards and the defensemen. Now, we get to the goalies.

But Reid Boucher has it all to himself.

We discussed his chances of scoring 60-plus goals in a season last week, but 59 goals in 63 games is still something else.

https://twitter.com/NHLDevilsPR/status/309316213660590080

This move is as much about getting Kinkaid playing time as it is committing to Johan Hedberg as the Devils' starting goalie while Martin Brodeur is out. The Devils think enough of Kinkaid that they want him to play consistent minutes and 26 minutes in a week is not enough for a young, developing goalie. Frazee had spent most of his professional career with the Devils' AHL affiliates since being drafted in the second round in 2005. His time as the Devils' potential goalie of the future has likely passed him by and he'll spend the next week or so backing up Hedberg, who will see the majority (if not all) of starts while Brodeur is sidelined by his balky back.

The slide continues for the Devils in what was possibly their worst overall effort of the slide. Far too little pressure and attacking between the first five minutes and the last five minutes, lackluster defensive play and obvious frustration were the main highlights to take away from tonight's game. Some thoughts...

Rock bottom: Did the Devils hit rock bottom during the second period tonight? Pete DeBoer certainly hopes they did. He said as much after the game and about halfway through the second period, it was hard to disagree with him. There were brutal defensive breakdowns -- repeatedly. There was an offense that failed to get more than two meaningful shots on Anders Lindback from the halfway point of the first period to the final seven minutes of the third period. There was mediocre goaltending, albeit by a goalie who was hung out to dry on multiple occasions (including the second and third goals) by the players in front of him. So what now? The Devils have to realize that this is about as bad as it can get. They Devils were beaten 5-2 by a team that's not better than them, but definitely outplayed them. They've lost six straight and eight out of their last nine. Perhaps most disturbing is that six of those eight losses were to teams that are currently outside of the playoff picture, which means the Devils aren't only losing ground among the middle-class teams in the East, they're also dropping future tiebreakers against the team they could end up battling for playoff spots. Tonight was the first of six home games in eight contests. It's where the Devils need to get back into playing their style of hockey or else this won't be rock bottom -- and that's a really, really bad thing.

Via Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice:

?I?m trying not to look at it,? DeBoer said of the team?s schedule. ?I am aware of that. I?ve never put a calendar up on my office Sunday to Sunday and seen five games on it, so this is a first.?

Johan Hedberg will start in net tonight. With Martin Brodeur out at least through Tuesday?s game, I asked DeBoer if there was any chance he would give rookie Keith Kinkaid his first NHL start Tuesday against the Lightning.

https://twitter.com/TGfireandice/status/307176727833092097

Brodeur is eligible to return in time for Monday's game against the Maple Leafs and DeBoer said Thursday it's possible Brodeur could meet up with the team in Toronto.

Then, just before 5 p.m. ET, Brodeur became the third Devil to be place on injured reserve in the last two weeks. After a couple hours to think it over, I've come up with a few thoughts on the injury, the roster move and how this affects the Devils going forward...

There is an article on Bleacher Report saying that the Devils must trade Martin Brodeur now. They say that it would be tough for the Devils to resign Brodeur after this season when his contract expires. It has been obviously especially lately that Brodeur has not been up to par.

But really think about it with Brodeur's play this season do you really think any other team is going to want to trade for an aging goaltender for half a season? I don't think so. With the injuries that Brodeur has encountered over the last couple seasons you have to figure that this is more than likely going to be his final season especially if there is going to be any work stoppage coming up this summer.

At the end of this season the two current Devils goaltenders' contracts expire. For arguments sake lets say that Martin Brodeur retires and the Devils decide not to bring back Johan Hedberg. I think that the Devils should NOT go after a current NHL goaltender(s). I think the most effective way for the Devils to succeed in goal is from within their system.

Jeff Frazee and Keith Kinkaid should be the guys to fill the spots on the roster. I think that the Devils should highly consider doing what is popular in the league right now and not have a true number one goaltender but go with who is hot. Now both of these goaltenders have pretty promising stats from their play in the AHL.

Hockey Buzz has a series of questions that surround the New Jersey Devils. They are great questions that really make you think about the Devils and the current state they are in. ?I will answer those questions...

"1.?Will the Devils finish in the top-six of the Eastern Conference, and why or why not?"

Lou Lamoriello has said that Martin Brodeur is "status quo" on recovering from the shoulder injury that happened against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. In the mean time, the Devils called up Keith Kinkaid from Albany. Kinkaid took Brodeur's spot on the bench against the Predators on Saturday. You have to figure that if Brodeur is out of anymore time, Kinkaid is going to be their go to man to backup Johan Hedberg. Brodeur is going to see a doctor about his shoulder today.

Also, Peter DeBoer made some changes to the first line today by replacing Petr Sykora on the first line for Dainius Zubrus. Sykora centered on the third line with Mattias Tedenby and David Clarkson.