NEW YORK — Keith Kinkaid saw his first game action in 25 days on Sunday, and it was apparent.
Kinkaid was quick to pin a 6-4 loss to the New York Islanders on himself, saying he needs to backup a good offensive outing for the Devils.
“We got four goals. Any time you get four goals, you should win the game,” Kinkaid said. “That game’s on me.”
Devils can’t finish weekend sweep of Isles
Kinkaid surrendered six goals on 32 shots, and he readily admitted he wasn’t any where near the level he played at in January.
“It’s not easy. Like I said, I didn’t feel sharp like I did a month ago,” Kinkaid said. “No excuses, even the big save in the first, that rebound probably doesn’t go there if I was on my game. Just wasn’t feeling it today.”
Kinkaid was referring to a brilliant diving save he made in the first period to keep it a 1-1 game, but it was set up when a rebound bounced sharply off his pad to the right circle.
After that save, Kinkaid gave up five more goals, including an easy wrap around goal early in the second period, where Kinkaid lost the puck momentarily and called the bad goal a “brain fart.”
The decision to play Kinkaid came down to maintenance for regular starter Cory Schneider. Schneider started the past seven games, including Saturday’s win over the Islanders. In a stretch of five games in eight days, the Devils always planned on getting Kinkaid at least one start.
“It’s the position of a backup goalie,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “Like anything, we have to make sure we’re ready to do, and that’s all there is to it.”
The Islanders also found themselves free on several rushes against Kinkaid, including an Andrew Ladd short-handed goal on a 2-on-1, then a Jason Chimera breakaway score in the third period to make it 6-3.
“We can’t keep giving up chances like that,” defenseman Andy Greene told NJ Advance Media. “Doesn’t matter who’s in net. Obviously he hasn’t played in a while, but it doesn’t matter if Cory’s in net or if it’s Keith. We can’t give up those types of chances.”
Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.
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