DeSmith DeLights but Penguins Scuffle to Earn a Point in Shootout Loss

Hockey’s a funny sport, isn’t it? During their extended hot streak, it seemed like every time our Penguins touched the puck it went in. As recently as Tuesday night we rang up a half dozen goals…four in the third period alone…against poor Arizona. Then…pfft.

Now we can’t buy a goal. (Not showing up in the prime scoring areas has something to do with it.)

On the flip side? Casey DeSmith was struggling to stop a beach ball let alone a puck. Yanked early from his last two starts and generally ineffective this season to the tune of an .886 save percentage he’d become a huge question mark. Out of sheer necessity, coach Mike Sullivan started him last night against Detroit. I’m sure with more than a bit of trepidation.

So Casey goes out and turns in an unbelievable performance. Included in his 30 stops was a glove save on Wings sharpshooter Dylan Larkin early in overtime that almost defies superlatives. He stole us a point last night in a game we deserved to lose.

Unfortunately, whatever malaise was afflicting our Pens from the night before (20 shots allowed in the final 20 minutes and change) carried over into last night’s contest. We featured new line combinations but precious little of anything else worth noting. I’m hard-pressed to recall a flatter, more listless “effort” from our guys, and I’ll use that term loosely. No one, save for DeSmith, appeared to break a sweat.

In plain English, we stunk. Making the rebuilding Red Wings look like a Stanley Cup contender in the process.

Despite being outshot, 11-5, I’d hoped we’d somehow escape the first period unscathed and regroup during the intermission. But with 1:41 left in the period, bruiser Givani Smith outworked our defense down low (a recurring theme) and struck on a second-chance garbage goal. Only his third tally of the season for those keeping track.

Don’t know what was said in the Pens’ dressing room between periods. My guess? Sullivan raised the decibel level a tad.

Fortunately, our guys came out for the second period looking more like the team that recently went 17-2 and less like the stumble-bum crew that opened the contest. Jake Guentzel evened the score at 1-1 six minutes into the frame, thanks to a retaliatory penalty taken by Michael Rasmussen. The goal was typical Jake, as he slipped into open space undetected to swat home a juicy rebound.

Working on a power-play of their own, the Wings retook the lead at 16:31. Nick Leddy unleashed a drive from center point that popped off DeSmith. Filip Zadina found the loose puck before John Marino for an easy tap-in. It should be noted that three Red Wings were standing practically on top of Casey.

The Pens countered early in the third period. Sidney Crosby, one of the few Pens who seemed emotionally involved from the get-go, flattened Filip Hronek as the Wings defender chased the puck along the boards. As only he can do, in one motion Sid threaded a seeing-eye pass through traffic and on to the waiting stick of Guentzel, who swept it past Calvin Pickard from the slot.

From that point on it was the Casey Show. The plucky backup made several huge stops, including the stunner on Larkin, to push the game to a shootout. Alas, while the Pens’ top guns misfired, hot-shot rookie Lucas Raymond beat DeSmith to steal the extra point for the Wings.

On this night Casey deserved a better fate. His teammates did not.

Puckpourri

Following their snail-like start, the Pens rebounded to outshoot the Wings, 38-32.

Pickard earned first-star honors. Guentzel, who snapped a three-game pointless drought and four-game goalless skein, was named second star. Strangely, DeSmith was not among the honorees.

Sid enjoyed a two-assist night and showed plenty of fire, initiating a battle with talented (and much larger) Detroit defender Moritz Seider.

With Teddy Blueger out, Sullivan is struggling to hit on effect line combinations. The Danton Heinen–Jeff Carter–Evan Rodrigues line was out-Corsied, 2-9, and quickly broken up. The newly re-upped Carter isn’t displaying especially good chemistry with anyone right now. He’s been victimized down low on several goals against recently, including the game-opener last night.

A dead-fish giveaway by Mike Matheson led directly to Smith’s goal.

Despite our recent difficulties, the Pens (27-10-7, 61 points) are presently perched atop the Metro, one point ahead of Carolina. Our lofty position is largely cosmetic…the ‘Canes have four games in hand. Up next…the Kings visit for a matinee clash tomorrow afternoon.

Opinyinz

Dominik Simon drew a hooking penalty for the second-straight game and it cost us, leading to Zadina’s power-play marker. Nor was he effective possession-wise (36.26). Time for Sully to sit his beloved “Dom” in favor of Radim Zohorna. I’m not picking on Simon, even though he’s pretty much a one-trick pony. However, with the bottom three lines struggling to mesh, I feel we could use a fresh-face and a different look.

John Marino seems “soff” to me in Michel Therrien-speak. He gets beaten pretty consistently down low and is loathe to put the body on anyone. A minus-three in our past four games and a minus-six in our last nine, Marino appears to have regressed defensively since his stellar rookie campaign of 2019-20.

Maybe it’s just me, but I hope we don’t see a lot of Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang together in 3-on-3 overtime. Talk about a high-risk combo. Yikes!!