Penguins expected to start goaltender Casey DeSmith against Lightning
The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Casey DeSmith for Sunday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
His status was announced by coach Mike Sullivan approximately two hours before the game was slated to start.
In 28 games this season, DeSmith has a 10-12-4 record, a 3.28 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.
DeSmith has faced the Lightning only once in his career. During a 5-4 road loss Feb. 9, 2019, he made 29 saves on 34 shots.
Notes:
• Injured defenseman Mark Friedman and Ryan Poehling remain out due to undisclosed ailments that have sidelined each of them for the past five games. Sullivan indicated both players skated Sunday morning.
• The Lightning has yet to announce if Andrei Vasilievskiy or Brian Elliott will start in net.
Appearing in 44 games this season, Vasilevskiy has a 28-14-2 record, a 2.55 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and two shutouts. On Saturday, he made 45 saves in a 3-0 road win against the Detroit Red Wings.
Elliott has played in 14 games this season and has a 9-3-2 record, a 2.90 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and one shutout.
• Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has 699 career points.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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