The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Casey DeSmith for Sunday’s home game against the rival Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena.
Coach Mike Sullivan announced DeSmith’s status approximately two and a half hours before the opening faceoff.
In 37 games this season, DeSmith has a 14-16-4 record, a 3.20 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
On March 11, DeSmith steered a the Penguins to a 5-1 home win against the Flyers by making 31 saves on 32 shots.
Notes:
• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is scheduled to appear in his 1,000th career game. A ceremony to recognize the accomplishment will be staged before the game.
• The opening faceoff of the contest is scheduled for 6:14 p.m.
• Penguins forward Bryan Rust is scheduled to appear in his 500th career game.
• The Penguins (37-29-10, 84 points) enter the day out of a playoff position. A victory would push them ahead of the idle Florida Panthers (39-31-7, 85 points) for the second Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference.
• Per Sullivan, injured defensemen Dmitry Kulikov (suspected left foot), Marcus Pettersson (undisclosed), Jan Rutta (suspected left knee) and forward Nick Bonino (lacerated kidney) all skated on Sunday morning.
Kulikov, Pettersson and Bonino are currently designated to long-term injured reserve. Sullivan indicated all four players could return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.
• The Flyers are scheduled to start rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson. In 10 games this season, Ersson has a 6-1-0 record, a 3.07 goals against average, an .898 save percentage and one shutout.
A fifth-round pick (No. 143 overall) in 2018 under former Flyers general manager Ron Hextall — who currently holds that office with the Penguins — Ersson has never faced the Penguins.
• Flyers defenseman Justin Braun has 199 career points.
• The Flyers were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday.
