NEWARK, N.J. – Injuries to goaltenders Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid paved the way for Thunder Bay’s Mackenzie Blackwood to find his way to the National Hockey League.
The New Jersey Devils on Thursday recalled the second-year goaltender, who served as a back-up to starter Ken Appleby in a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.
It’s been a roller-coaster sophomore season for the 21-year-old Blackwood, who earlier this month was re-assigned from the American Hockey League’s Binghamton Devils to the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. Blackwood has posted a 3.64 goals against average in the AHL this season, with one shutout in going 5-12-0.
He went 1-0-1 in two games with the Thunder, recording a shutout before being recalled to the AHL team following an injury to former NHLer Eddie Lack.
Blackwood did not play for the Devils on Thursday night.
