The Pittsburgh Penguins started slow, but Casey DeSmith made sure the win was in reach by the time they shook off the rust.
This season has not been a walk in the park for Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith. His struggles to find consistency in the face of being thrust into the starting role have been widely ridiculed, and rightfully so.
However, the 31-year-old Penguins netminder returned from the nine-day break ready to hit the reset button. "We were limping a little but going into the break, it was nice for everyone to go and forget about hockey for a couple of days," said DeSmith after Sunday's practice. "Just come back hungry to work."
While most of the team took a few periods to get their feet underneath them, DeSmith was sharp out of the gate against the Colorado Avalanche. DeSmith saved 28 of 29 shots faced through two periods to keep the Penguins within one goal. He remained steady through overtime, where he made three massive saves to kill off an Avalanche penalty leading to Kris Letang's game-winning goal.
Plenty of the Penguins losses since the beginning of 2023 can be attributed to poor goaltending. However, last night proved that this team, as currently constructed, can compete with anyone if they get a stellar performance from their goaltender.
That's not a recipe for consistent success, but it may just be enough to keep the Penguins afloat in the playoff race while general manager Ron Hextall works on finding this team some reinforcements for the bottom half of the lineup.
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