PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – What’s a guy have to do to be the Number One Star of the Game?
Thursday night goalie Casey DeSmith set a Penguins record and a career-high in saves in a 4-0 win over Boston. Yet a hat trick by Jake Guentzel relegated DeSmith to the number two star.
Obviously either one is worthy as Guentzel reached the 40-goal milestone for the second time in his career, but were talking about the guy in the spotlight. Typically, the goalie has a lot of eyes on him, but especially when he’s the back-up and it’s quite possible starting goalie Tristan Jarry won’t be ready when the playoffs begin in early May.
“I felt like I’m up to the task,” DeSmith said. “Obviously a 52-save shutout always builds the confidence a little bit. Coming into this game I felt like I was prepared. I’ve been working for this moment for a long time to step in there in case something happened to Jarry. I’m just happy to help the team get some wins.”
“Casey was unbelievable tonight,” said Pens forward Jason Zucker. “I thought he obviously made every save. He was calm. It is easy to play in front of him when he is playing like that. He made a lot of great plays shooting pucks out, playing the puck behind the net. He was definitely our all-star tonight for sure.”
Yet he wasn’t their all-star, or at least not their number one-star Thursday night. He was, in all seriousness, outstanding. It’s the most saves ever for a Pens goalie in a shutout.
“I was really happy with how I tracked the puck through traffic,” DeSmith said. “They got a lot of pucks through, they get a lot of bodies to the next. I thought my rebound control was good too. Just kind of managing the traffic in the game and all of the pucks thrown on net.”
The worry about DeSmith fills talk show phone lines and Twitter mentions. Yet when the pressure was on him against an aggressive playoff team, the 30-year-old stepped up. Just a few months ago he was pulled in back-to-back starts. His first three starts of the season, the University of New Hampshire star gave up 14 goals.
“Every player has ups-and-downs in their career,” DeSmith said. “That’s probably the lowest I’ve been in the NHL. Just trying to get back to the basics. Working on my game, the details in my game, working hard in practice. The things that got me here, getting back to my roots.”
He’s been helped by what he called a growing relationship with first-year goalie coach Andy Chiodo. He said it’s now a good partnership with good chemistry.
“I’m just taking it game-by-game,” DeSmith said when asked about potentially starting playoff games. “Show up to the rink and practice hard. For the rest of the regular season, whenever I’m called upon go out and play. Right now, I’m focused on Saturday.”
“He’s just a special goaltender,” Guentzel said. “He’s come in all year and done the job for us. Obviously a really good effort by him. He kept us in the game, made a lot of key saves. We are happy to have him back there.”
Two games since the Jarry injury, both against playoff-bound Boston, 79 saves in 81 chances.
Not bad, even for the second-best player on the ice Thursday.