Habs News: Bergevin’s Second Choice, Disappointing Results, Video Analysis of Keith Kinkaid’s Last Game, Assignment to Laval
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — At the end of the 2018-19 season press conference, the only roster change that Marc Bergevin confirmed on that day was that Antti Niemi was told that he wouldn’t be signed to a new contract for the following season.
The announcement wasn’t a surprise considering that Niemi had only been given three starts in the last 32 games of the season. The organization had projected that the backup goalie would help limit Carey Price’s starts in the range of 55 to 60.
He finished the year with eight wins in 17 starts, 3.78 goals against average and .887 save percentage. They were not the numbers that are expected from a backup goalie, and was cited as one of the reasons that the team didn’t clinch a playoff spot.
Second Choice
On July 1st, it was reported that Bergevin had made an one-year offer to free agent goaltender Curtis McElhinney. The goalie chose to sign with the Lightning, when Tampa Bay offered him an additional year at a cap hit of $1.3-million. He finished the season with eight wins in 18 starts, 2.89 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
Bergevin turned to his second choice and signed free agent Keith Kinkaid to a one-year contract worth $1.75-million. Kinkaid was coming off a season where he played 41 games for the Devils, before getting traded to the Blue Jackets and acted as the team’s third goaltender.
“Hopefully I can take take his load work and lighten it up for him a little bit. I want to be a guy that they can count on when they need to, somebody to win a game and give Carey a night off,” Kinkaid said when meeting the media for the first time in Montreal. At the time of the signing, goalie coach Stephen Waite mentioned during several interviews that he planned for Price to play 50 to 60 games.
Disappointing Results
Kinkaid had five starts to prove himself and demonstrate to the organization that he was a capable backup goaltender. The results were disappointing to say the least, as the opponents scored four times in four of his starts, and five times during his other start. He also came in to relief to Price in a game against the Bruins and allowed three goals on 13 shots.
The numbers summarized reveal just one win in six games, with a 4.24 goals against average, and .875 save percentage. These numbers were trending to be lower than Niemi from the previous season and the organization decided to replace him before it was too late.
Video Review
Kinkaid’s last game in a Canadiens uniform was on November 30th during an afternoon game against the Flyers at the Bell Centre. His career record was seven wins and two losses in nine starts against Philadelphia.
Heading into the matchup, the Habs had lost their previous six games, while Philadelphia was on a three game winning streak. It was after this game, that the team decided that Kinkaid wasn’t the solution, so let’s have a closer look at the goalie’s performance on that day that led to that decision.
Travis Konecny took his team’s first shot on goal during the seventh minute of play. His shot caused Kinkaid to lose his stick after it was struck by the puck. The Flyers kept possession in the zone and Kinkaid was forced to make a save against Philippe Myers without a stick.
Joel Farabee was given an opportunity by the defence to take a clean shot on goal that Kinkaid stopped with his right pad. While Kinkaid was trying to figure out the location of the puck, Shea Weber cleared it out of danger.
Kinkaid had to remain vigilant at moments to prevent puck from going into the goal. In the sequence below, Kinkaid was forced to make a right pad save after Jeff Petry redirected the puck towards his own net with his glove. Kinkaid didn’t seem happy with his teammate and gave him a hard look after making the stop.
In the final moments of the period, Kinkaid was focused and was able to stop the point shot with five players in front of him.
In the second period, a clear out attempt that Kinkaid couldn’t control almost led to a dangerous scoring opportunity by the Flyers. Nate Thompson intercepted the pass and took it out of danger.
Less than a minute later, following a turnover by Petry, Scott Laughton was left all alone to head towards the goal. Once Kinkaid hit the ice in anticipation of a shot, Laughton skated around the net, however his pass attempt towards the crease was blocked by Joel Armia.
The Flyers tied the game 7:47 into the second period as Justin Braun’s shot got redirected into the net by Oskar Lindblom. Kinkaid had a lot of traffic in front of him as Gustav Olofsson and Cale Fleury were trying to get Lindblom out of the way.
Tomas Tatar gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead 27 seconds later, before the Flyers tied the game. Petry’s turnover led Farabee to pass the puck to Kevin Hayes that beat Kinkaid with a top corner blocker side shot.
Later in the period, Hayes went around Fleury and took a shot on goal that was stopped in a non-conventional method by Kinkaid.
Hayes had another scoring opportunity later in the frame, however Kinkaid showed a lot of patience on the sequence to make the stop.
Koneckny gave his team the first lead of the game with a one-timer on a three-on-two. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was partially screening Kinkaid on that play.
The Flyers were putting some pressure after the Habs tied the game to 3-3. In the following play, Farabee took a shot directly onto the right post, which Kinkaid’s body language suggests that he thought went in goal. Artturi Lehkonen did a great job in clearing the rebound away from Laughton.
Kinkaid made two key plays during the Flyers power play in the last frame. In the clip below, you will see the puck cleared into the Canadiens zone, that were stopped by the goalie behind the net. As a result, Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry respectively were able to clear the puck out their own zone and to kill the final minute of the penalty kill.
Ivan Pronorov ended the game 31 seconds into overtime as he went around Max Domi and took a shot that went below Kinkaid’s arm.
“I think the boys deserve better. You know, I gotta have that one in overtime I kind of cheated a little short side,” said Kinkaid. “That’s on me you know, making an extra stop here.”
Assigned to Laval
Two days later, the Canadiens placed Kinkaid on waivers and was assigned to Laval once clearing. “It gives him the opportunity to play more often in Laval,” explained Claude Julien. “What we saw from him is good, but not good enough for the moment.”
Kinkaid never accepted the demotion to the AHL, and seemed bitter about it. I can understand that feeling because he didn’t sign with the organization believing that he would end up in Laval after six games.
Kinkaid has been known for being active on twitter. He recently posted a sarcastic tweet about being in two of the team’s top 10 plays of the season.
2 in 5 games, is that good?
Top 10 Canadiens Plays … Thus Far https://t.co/n4riRLPLti via @NHL— Keith Kinkaid (@Blockaid1) March 23, 2020
Bergevin will be looking once again during the off-season to find a backup to Price for 2020-21.
By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2019 Rocket Sports
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