It wasn't a perfect debut, but Ty Smith should become a useful piece for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
PITTSBURGH - It wasn’t the easiest of situations for Ty Smith to make his debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it’s safe to say he had a solid game.
Smith entered the Penguins lineup after it was made official that Kris Letang would be out day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
With Letang down, it was up to Smith to step up as the quarterback of the power play.
Putting the 0/8 performance of the unit aside, Smith played a solid game; he led Penguins defensemen in time on ice with 22:14 and over half of that was spent on the power play.
It was a game driven by the special teams; the Penguins and New Jersey Devils combined for a total of 30 penalty minutes.
“I was comfortable,” Smith said. “It was my first one of the season, but I’ve played in this league a decent amount already, so I felt fine.”
It may have been the 22-year-old’s first game with the Penguins, but he was acquired from the Devils after 114 games of service.
Head coach Mike Sullivan also liked what he saw from Smith in his Penguins debut.
“I thought Ty did a pretty good job,” Sullivan said. “That’s not an easy position to throw a young guy in. I thought for the most part he did a real good job.”
Despite the amount of opportunities on the power play, Smith believes there is still work that can be done to improve his performance.
“It shouldn’t have been that tough,” Smith said. “Those guys are real good players. They’ve been doing great things on the power play for a long time. I think I just need to be better there.”
Smith brings an offensive mindset to the Penguins’ blue line and that can eventually prove to be beneficial.
Not only did Smith lead Penguins defenders in minutes, but also finished with the second most shots on goal for the team with four.
It was Smith’s first of likely many with the Penguins and while there may have been some growing pains, it should turn out to be a fruitful relationship.
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