Kings bedeviled by backup goalie Keith Kinkaid once again in shutout loss

Keith Kinkaid, Kings killer?

The New Jersey Devils goalie hardly looked menacing or villain-esque with his humble, oh-gosh manner after Saturday’s game. He politely answered questions and didn’t have an explanation for his success against the Kings.

“I don’t know,” Kinkaid said. “I like playing them, I guess.”

Hours earlier, Kinkaid walked into Staples Center in a green suit with white shamrocks on the jacket on St. Patrick’s Day. He probably could have worn that in net and still come out victorious. The career backup goalie continued to confound the Kings with his second shutout in three starts against them, a 3-0 win earned on 38 saves.

Kinkaid has stopped 101 of 102 shots in four career appearances against the Kings, who are tied with the Ducks for third in the Pacific Division and aided their downfall by squandering more than seven minutes of power play time in the first period, including a 58-second, two-man advantage.

“We had a lot of shots and I thought some quality chances,” center Anze Kopitar said. “We didn’t score. For sure, credit goes to him, too. I thought he played solid tonight. But at the same time, we can do a lot more to make it harder on him.”

Kopitar spoke in a glum dressing room after the Kings were shut out for just the fourth time this season. The Devils swept the season series in part by getting sticks and bodies on pucks. They had 22 blocked shots and forced the Kings to miss 26 other attempts.

“That’s a pretty classic New Jersey Devil performance,” defenseman Alec Martinez said. “They’re very structured. They’re very committed to their team game. They have a deep hockey club, really mobile D. Each line plays with a lot of speed.”

It didn’t appear to be the Kings’ day when they outshot New Jersey, 19-4, at first intermission yet trailed on the scoreboard, 2-0. New Jersey’s 50% shooting came courtesy of Michael Grabner and Nico Hischier. Grabner stole Drew Doughty’s pass and broke in for a shorthanded, unassisted goal.

“It turned out to be the biggest play of the game, really,” Kopitar said. “With those power play opportunities early, you want to cash in on them. We failed to do so.”

Hischier took a long stretch pass, cut to his left and shot the puck past a sprawled Doughty and goalie Jonathan Quick. Miles Wood extended it to 3-0 with a two-on-one goal in the third period, off Doughty’s broken-up pass in the Kings’ end.

It hasn’t been the Kings’ day this season. They fell to 1-3 in afternoon home games and have been outscored 19-6 in the losses. Not even a bagpipes player could wake them up during stoppages. It turned comedic when New Jersey’s John Moore checked Jeff Carter into the Devils’ bench and when Adrian Kempe and Tyler Toffoli collided on an entry.

Kings coach John Stevens didn’t like the empty power plays and wanted to see more net presence. He didn’t mind that Saturday was the final home matinee of the regular season.

“Well, they haven’t been kind to us lately,” Stevens said. “But, again, you can’t look at this game and say we weren’t ready to play.”

Martinez didn’t buy into the 1-3 statistic, either.

“Game time’s game time,” he said. “There’s no excuse.”

curtis.zupke@latimes.com

Twitter: @curtiszupke