PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – A foot injury ended his opportunity for more NHL games. Now a foot injury could lead him to playing for the Pens in the playoffs.
30-year-old Louis Domingue played in one exhibition game in October with his new team and it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to beat out Casey DeSmith even though he stopped 20 of 21 shots against Buffalo. He was placed on waivers, available to any team, cleared, and sent to the minors.
His NHL shot with the Pens would come thanks to COVID. Back-up goalie Casey DeSmith went into protocol in early January. After going 3-4-2 with a 2.69 goals against average in the AHL, Domingue was an emergency recall. The 6'3", 208-pounder would get his chance on January 15 at San Jose.
He would put on a show.
Sharks scored about seven minutes in as Domingue settled in to stop the other 10 shots. Blistered in the second, Domingue stopped all 17 shots and then another 13 in the third before the Pens won it early in overtime, 2-1.
"My goal was to show my teammates that I was for real," Domingue said Tuesday. "I think I accomplished that. That's been awhile, at the end of the day you have to prove that all over again."
It appeared more opportunities could come Domingue's way until taking a shot off the foot during an optional morning skate five days after his start. He would languish on the injured list until March 7.
In the last month, Domingue would become the regular goalie starting a total of 22 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins going 10-9-2 with a 2.41 goals against average and .924 save percentage. That would put him top 10 in the AHL.
"Just by playing a lot of games it's been easier to gain confidence," Domingue said. "Especially down there where I had an important role on the team. Even if I had a bad game, I got to go in the net and do it again. Playing in a short period of time has helped out building the confidence. It's been a positive year so far and I look forward to building on that."
He's getting another opportunity with the Penguins because of a foot injury to starter Tristan Jarry seemingly happening when the Islanders Andres Lee slid into him in the third period last week.
Jarry is now week-to-week and being ready for the beginning of the post-season seems far-fetched. The Pens will turn to DeSmith to start, but Domingue is in position to add to his post-season resume. So far it includes 18 minutes playing for Tampa Bay in 2018 relieving Andrei Vasilevskiy in a 4-2 loss to the Caps, stopping all seven shots he saw.
"That third goalie is a really important aspect of just shoring up the depth of that position," said Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan admiring Domingue's work ethic. "Depth in every position is so critically important to a team's ability to sustain success. You can't always predict what's going to come your way. Louie's done a really good job to control what he can to be his best."
"You've been preparing your whole life for this type of opportunity," Domingue said. "My goal is just to help the team out best I can."
