Devils G Kinkaid aims to extend win streak as fill-in vs. Senators

OTTAWA -- It could have been a devastating loss, the but the New Jersey Devils are surviving just fine without injured No. 1 goalie Corey Schneider.

Keith Kinkaid will be gunning for his fourth straight win when he gets between the pipes for the Devils in Tuesday's game against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

Along with the string of victories that gives him a career-high 10 for the season, Kinkaid has a .928 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average in the last three games. He credits his success to a new style.

"I'm working on being compact and I got to adjust my stance a little bit," the 28-year-old Kinkaid told northjersey.com. "I feel I was leaving too many holes. Now I feel compact. If they're going to beat me, beat me outside, not the five-hole."

While Schneider has resumed on-ice workouts and is not expected to miss much more time with his groin injury, the Devils recalled veteran Eddie Lack from their far team. Coach John Hynes indicated that Lack could get a start this week, possibly against his former team in Calgary.

The Devils (27-16-8) are also hopeful of getting veteran Marcus Johansson back from a concussion in the not too distant future. Johansson will miss his fifth game on Tuesday, but he too has resumed on-ice workouts.

While New Jersey is holding firm with their spot among the Eastern Conference's top eight contenders, the Senators (17-25-9) continue to languish near the bottom of the standings.

With an opportunity to extend a winning streak to three games for the first time since October, the Senators came out flat in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday at the Bell Centre.

The Senators know a little more effort will be required against the Devils.

"It's a hard league and we know we're playing against some really good teams," Senators center Derrick Brassard told Postmedia in Ottawa. "Some teams are pushing to make the playoffs. We see flashes (of effort) and we'd like to do it for 60 minutes."

The Senators are 0-0-2 against the Devils this season, suffering a 5-4 defeat in overtime and another by an identical score in a shootout.

The Senators' starting goalie will be Craig Anderson, who is coming off a 33-save, 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Saturday. Ottawa coach Guy Boucher has adopted a alternating systems with his goalies, and Mike Condon played Sunday.

Among his tasks, Anderson will be attempting to cool Devils winger Taylor Hall, who has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in the last 10 games.

The Senators hope to get winger Bobby Ryan back from his latest in a string of hand injuries.