Louis Domingue, come on down. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Casey DeSmith will miss the rest of the playoffs following core muscle surgery this morning. With Tristan Jarry still out with his own injury, the Penguins crease belongs to Domingue for the time being.
It’s a brutal outcome for DeSmith, who had played brilliantly in his playoff debut before being removed partway through the second overtime period of game one. His season will end having stopped 48 of 51 shots to that point, and leave the Penguins desperately short on NHL-level goaltenders.
Jarry, who has yet to even return to the ice following his late-season injury, is the only other goaltender in the organization that even has NHL experience. Alex D’Orio, the current backup, has just 34 appearances above the ECHL level and posted an .894 save percentage for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season. Filip Lindberg, the other goaltender signed to an NHL deal, hasn’t played since November because of his own injury and has just seven professional appearances.
Incredibly, that leaves Domingue as the only option the team has despite playing in just two NHL games during the regular season. After his outstanding performance to close out game one, the New York Rangers managed to slip five past him last night to even the series. It now becomes a huge ask of a career backup to step into the spotlight and carry the team through the first round.
For DeSmith, it’s more than just missing the playoffs. As a pending unrestricted free agent, this was going to be an opportunity to showcase his skills as a potential starter–or at least a tandem starter–and secure a raise on the open market. He had played well during the regular season, posting a .914 save percentage in 26 appearances, and looked to have the net all to himself until Jarry returns down the road. Now he enters the open market with an uncertain future, coming off a surgery that often has lingering effects on performance even after being medically cleared to play.
The Penguins are back in action tomorrow night.
Crap-a-doodle-doo… Well, Pens, this will be your toughest test in years.
No worries they have the referees to help them. The Crosby effect has not expired.
@billysbballz – The Old Two-Niner threw down the gauntlet for them in the last postgame discussion. He said they needed far more from the bottom six. Much like Edmonton’s woes over the past couple of years in their bottom six, PIT really needs a lot more, otherwise they’ll be first in line for the best tee times in a few days. As far as officiating goes, maybe they should hope for Christmas in May to help this series go seven…
Try bottom 9. Malkins line not doing much either. It’s been all Sid and Jake.
Maybe it’s time to see what Tom Barasso is doing
And Ken Wregget!
Players will do anything to avoid Ryan leaves
Ryan Reaves
Hopefully he does! Ha!
They can have Matt Murray
It’s not as if the Pens were escaping the first round anyway.
This comment hasn’t aged well.
So, hey…how’s Tristan Jarry doing these days?
Louis Domingue is at least as capable of winning these games as DeSmith. He can get hot for streaks.
Something I’m not really wrapping my head around: even discounting COVID disruptions, goalies seem to be getting hurt a lot more often than they used to … and that’s with ever-better and ever-lighter protective equipment, the best conditioning and training in the history of the sport, and tighter control of the rough stuff.