Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith gets his 'confidence going in the right direction'

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan had a curious way of describing Casey DeSmith’s play in late November.

After a 6-3 home loss to the woeful Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 27, Sullivan complimented the backup goaltender.

Kind of.

“I thought he was solid,” Sullivan said. “The goals that they got were good goals. They would have been real good saves if he were to make any of them.”

DeSmith allowed only three of the six goals the Canadiens had scored that night. The other three had been on an empty net.

It was DeSmith’s fourth loss in as many games he had played to that point in the season. And it was by far his best game of the season by that juncture.

Sullivan, who is loath to specifically criticize any player, was hesitant to sing DeSmith’s praises that night. After all, DeSmith’s play through his first four games was substandard.

Less than two weeks later, Sullivan’s tune changed. And so did DeSmith’s fortunes.

Facing the expansion Seattle Kraken on Monday, DeSmith made 28 saves on 29 shots and directed the Penguins to a 6-1 road win at Climate Pledge Arena.

“(DeSmith) was really good,” Sullivan said to media in Seattle. “He made some timely saves for us, especially early in the game. I’m really happy for him because he’s worked extremely hard to try to get his game where it’s at right now. To get rewarded with a game like this tonight, we’re all thrilled for him. It’s a big boost for him.”

Another boost for him was playing with a lead for the first time this season. On Monday, the Penguins raced out to a 3-0 advantage in the first period. In contrast, the Penguins had yielded the first goal — or the first two, four or five goals to be specific — in DeSmith’s previous four starts of the season.

“It takes a little bit of the pressure off,” DeSmith said of playing with a rare lead. “Obviously, there’s a lot of time left, and they’re a good team. Thankfully, the guys just buckled down and played really hard, did the smart things, made the smart plays and made my job really easy.”

To be clear, DeSmith didn’t have a night off against the mediocre Kraken. In fact, there was a pretty vital “save” by him late in the first period that wasn’t officially a save.

With the Penguins leading 3-1, the Kraken attacked the offensive zone on a three-on-one rush. Kraken forward Morgan Geekie slid a pass from the right circle to the front of the slot intended for former Penguins forward Jared McCann. It appeared to be an easy tap-in for McCann, but DeSmith reacted aggressively to the sequence and poke-checked the puck out of play, preventing a goal.

“I saw (McCann) back door,” DeSmith said. “Just kind out of habit, I had my stick out there. Just kind of laid it out there. It was in the right spot, thankfully. Just in case he passed it. I felt like I got over there. So I figured just laying my stick out there discouraging the pass would be the right play.”

Less than two minutes later, the Penguins scored two more goals to all but secure victory, DeSmith’s first since April 24.

DeSmith’s base numbers still look fairly rotten, even with Monday’s triumph. In five games, he has a 1-3-1 record, a 3.65 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.

But he took a considerable step in the right direction Monday.

“It feels great,” DeSmith said. “Mentally, that was big for me to go out there and get a solid win. Obviously, that was the definition of a team win from start to finish. Kudos to everybody for making it easy on me and getting my confidence going in the right direction.”

Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Tuesday.

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