When failure occurs in sports, it’s required that blame be attached. There’s always something management, a coach or a player could have done to reverse the result.
That’s not the case with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltending situation.
“They should have had a better veteran No. 3 goalie!” That’s a common complaint.
But Louis Domingue is that better veteran No. 3 goalie.
Domingue has played 145 NHL games, including playoffs. For a team’s third goaltender, that’s plenty of NHL experience.
The Carolina Hurricanes are also down to their third goalie. Pyotr Kochetkov has played five NHL games, including playoffs. (But I’d rather have Kochetkov. He is 22 and was a second-round draft pick in 2019.)
There’s no preparing for your top two goalies being hurt for the playoffs. If it happens, you play whoever you happen to have.
Perhaps the Penguins could have had a better No. 2 goalie than Casey DeSmith. But DeSmith has played 97 NHL games, including playoffs, and the organization likes him. DeSmith as backup is not ideal, nor is it outrageously bad.
Of course, any discussion of Penguins goaltending always comes back to Marc-Andre Fleury.
Argument No. 1: The Penguins should have kept Fleury, not Matt Murray, after winning the Stanley Cup in 2017. Yeah, it sure looks that way now. But hindsight is always 20/20. Murray was younger, cheaper and had accomplished more recently. Good moves can go bad.
Argument No. 2: The Penguins should have traded for Fleury this season. But Fleury’s $7 million cap hit made that impossible. And if you get Fleury, he must start. Fleury’s presence as a backup sabotages Tristan Jarry, who would hear the fans clamor for Fleury after every goal allowed. That’s not good if the Penguins consider Jarry, 27, to be their long-term goalie. (Fleury is 37.)
Anyway, none of that happened. The irony of this never-ending debate is Fleury was scapegoated by the citizens during much of his tenure in Pittsburgh.
Jarry skated in full equipment Saturday. If the series extends, perhaps there’s hope for his return.
Domingue is doing his best. It might not be good enough. But that’s nobody’s fault.
