PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pens open their longest road trip of the season Thursday night in Boston not knowing when they will have their starting goalie available.
Tristan Jarry is day-to-day with an upper body injury, which actually seemed as promising news following leaving the game on Monday. Casey DeSmith came in to stop all but one shot to preserve a win.
DeSmith could roll for most of this trip as the number one option.
"It's more than a luxury, it's a requirement for today's game," Sullivan said of having a pair of goalies playing well. "There aren't too many teams that have one goalie go wire-to-wire. This year might be more important with a condensed schedule."
Sullivan said the play of his goalies give his team a competitive advantage. After a slow start, the Pens are 10th in goals against. DeSmith is second in the league in goals against average of goalies with at least 10 starts, Jarry is fifth in the league in wins.
"It really hasn't been much of a difference at all," defenseman Mike Matheson said. "I think both guys have been doing a great job of playing the puck and taking the angle away and not giving up any big rebounds for us to worry about."
"He battles," forward Jared McCann said of DeSmith. "That's the best way to describe him, he's a battler."
"He's always the same, positive guy in the room," said defenseman John Marino. "He's been great for us. Not much to say, but he's been great."
Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you into thinking he doesn't have that fire. The 29-year-old signed back after not playing a game in the NHL last season and has put in as much practice time as anyone.
"Casey is a real competitive guy," Sullivan said. "I know he loves the game. He loves to work at his game. With each year that he plays, he gains a little bit more experience and becomes a more mature goaltender. He's learned through the benefit of his experiences. With his work ethic and passion for being the best he can be I think has helped him continue to improve and get better. We are getting a more polished version of Casey this year."
"He's a guy who's really earned his spot on this team," McCann said. "We have the utmost confidence in him moving forward. As a team, we need to play better in front of him at times, but when there is a big save to be made. He's there for us."
There are times, mostly early in the year, they could have played better in front of both goalies. Recently, especially with having their defensemen all healthy, both goalies have benefitted from better sight lines and fewer bodies in the way.
"I think we've been doing a good job of getting the pucks out of our zone," Matheson said. "I don't think there is a team in the league, especially in our division, that doesn't do a good job of preying on turnovers. I think that's been a huge plus for us. Our box outs and physicality are better."
DeSmith is 8-3 on the season with a .929 save percentage and a 1.91 goals against average. The New Hampshire native hasn't allowed more than three goals in a game since January.
"Casey has had a really solid year for us," Sullivan said. "He's won a significant amount of games for us. He's a good, solid goaltender. We have the utmost confidence in him."
"I've been playing well," DeSmith said simply on Monday. "I think I can step into that role. I look forward to the challenge."
