Kinkaid needed a mere 10 days to earn a spot in the NHL record book, but he had to work overtime to do it. On Dec. 19, 2014, Kinkaid became the first goalie in NHL history to have each of his first three starts decided in a shootout.
In the third shootout, Kinkaid finally earned his first NHL victory in a 3-2 New Jersey Devils win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kinkaid also became the first goalie since Scott Clemmensen on Jan. 20, 2004, to win his first NHL game with the Devils.
Kinkaid needed a mere 10 days to earn a spot in the NHL record book, but he had to work overtime to do it. On Dec. 19, 2014, Kinkaid became the first goalie in NHL history to have each of his first three starts decided in a shootout.
In the third shootout, Kinkaid finally earned his first NHL victory in a 3-2 New Jersey Devils win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kinkaid also became the first goalie since Scott Clemmensen on Jan. 20, 2004, to win his first NHL game with the Devils.
The victory was one of the early highlights in a career that included two record-setting years at Union College.
An ECAC All-Rookie Team member in 2010 and an AHCA First Team All-American in 2011, Kinkaid set school records for career goals-against average (2.18) and save percentage (.917) and left after his sophomore season ranked second in wins with 37.
In 2010-11 he won 25 games and Union won the Cleary Cup as the ECAC regular-season champion. Kinkaid won the Ken Dryden Award as the ECAC's Goaltender of the Year.
The fifth Union College player to reach the NHL, the undrafted Kinkaid spent the majority of his first four pro seasons with Albany of the American Hockey League, but he spent the entire 2015-16 season with the Devils and played in 23 games as the backup to Cory Schneider. He backed up Schneider again in 2016-17 but got his chance to play a bigger role when Schneider was injured during the middle of the 2017-18 season and made the most of it.
In 41 games, Kinkaid went 26-10-3 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, helping New Jersey advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012. But the Devils regressed in 2018-19, and Kinkaid was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 25, 2019.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- ECAC All-Rookie Team (2010)
- ECAC First All-Star Team (2011)
- NCAA East First All-American Team (2011)
- Signed as a free agent by New Jersey, April 18, 2011.
- Traded to Columbus by New Jersey for Columbus' 5th-round pick in 2022 NHL Draft, February 25, 2019.
- Signed as a free agent by Montreal, July 1, 2019.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, October 9, 2020.
- Signed as a free agent by Boston, July 13, 2022.
- Traded to Colorado by Boston for Shane Bowers, February 25, 2023.
