Kinkaid: A Twitter machine

BROSSARD - If you didn't catch Keith Kinkaid's sweet victory tweet after Saturday night's win, you should definitely have a look.

What you're seeing is a celebratory game recap featuring a series of emoji nicknames that the 30-year-old goaltender has bestowed upon some of his teammates.
On Monday, Kinkaid was asked to explain the story behind the rather unique practice - affectionately known as the Kincode - that began several years ago while he was still a member of the New Jersey Devils.
"I do it after each win. It's inspired by [shortstop] Didi Gregorius of the Yankees. I'm a big Yankees fan. I kind of spun it off him. It's just fun for the fans to get engaged and try to figure out a little puzzle," revealed Kinkaid, who boasts just over 35,000 followers on his Twitter account.
As for the animated GIF below the epic tweet, let's just say the Farmingville, NY native was a having a little innocent fun at the Maple Leafs' expense.
"That's the Toronto Maple Leafs' goal song, "You Make My Dreams," explained Kinkaid with a smile, referencing the renowned Hall & Oates track. "A little bit of a troll there."
Admittedly, Kinkaid did receive some guidance before selecting which emoji was best suited for which player.
Thank you, Jaclyn Phillips!
"Some are harder than others. Some are easy to get. I'll have to credit my girlfriend. She definitely helped me with a few of those. I definitely couldn't have gotten all those myself," said the seven-year NHL veteran. "I don't have the whole team yet. I'm doing it game by game."
So why was assistant captain Brendan Gallagher assigned the "man with a mustache" emoji following his solid performance?
"I couldn't think of something else," said Kinkaid with a laugh. "He's got blonde hair, and sometimes he's got a little facial hair going. I decided that one looks most like him."

On a serious note, though, Kinkaid will make his Canadiens debut at some point this week with three games in four nights on the docket.
Head coach Claude Julien wasn't prepared to confirm which game would be his, but Kinkaid is prepared to start whenever he gets the nod.
"I'll treat it just like any other game. I felt really good in the preseason. I'm just trying to keep my cardio up, stay in game shape as best I can in practice, and be there for the team when they need me," said Kinkaid. "I'll be ready when the game comes."
Watching the contests in Raleigh and Toronto was a real treat for Kinkaid, who has enjoyed every single second of his Canadiens experience thus far this year.
"I'm just happy to be a part of this team. We've got great things going right now, and we're very excited to start off strong," concluded Kinkaid. "We're very resilient. We never give up when we're down. It's great to see good pushback, even this early. I think that gives us confidence going forward each game. We're never out of a game. We're a very exciting team to watch. We've got to keep that going."