Penguins Update: Does Casey DeSmith Get a Bad Rap?

I was perusing other Penguins media sites this morning, casually reading some of the comments. I was surprised to note more than a couple taking shots at black-and-gold backup goalie Casey DeSmith in the wake of what I thought was a reasonably solid performance against the Stars last night.

To review, DeSmith stopped 30 of 33 shots, good for a .909 save percentage. The game-winning goal was hardly his fault…the Stars flooded our zone on a 3-on-1. Max Domi’s initial shot from point-blank range slammed off Casey’s mask and popped into the slot, where Jamie Benn…unfettered by late-arriving back checkers…buried the loose puck.

On the Stars’ second goal, a power-play tally, Benn was parked…again unfettered…mere feet away, drawing DeSmith’s attention away goal scorer Joe Pavelski in the high slot.

On the game-opening goal, Roope Hintz blew past Chad Ruhwedel and Josh Archibald on a partial breakaway and beat Casey five-hole.

None of these goals was especially egregious and he certainly didn’t cost us the game. Yet the criticism continues, some of it downright dismissive of his abilities.

Anyway, it got me to thinking. Does Casey get a bad rap?

Judging by the numbers, I’d say yes.

His .907 save percentage ranks just behind starter Tristan Jarry’s (.908) and above such notable netminders as former Pens Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray, Cam Talbot, Frederik Andersen, Sergei Bobrovsky, John Gibson, Jordan Binnington, Philipp Grubauer, Jacob Markstrom, Jack Campbell and Jonathan Quick. He’s a small notch below the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov (.910), widely regarded as the best backup in the league.

With a cap hit of $1.8 million, he’s by far the most affordable of the bunch.

For his career? DeSmith’s posted a solid .913 save percentage and 2.79 goals against average. That compares favorably to other Pens goalies past and present, including Jarry (.913 and 2.65), Murray (.911 and 2.78) and Fleury (.913 and 2.58), a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer.

Perhaps it’s his stature, or lack of, that causes people to look down on him…literally. Generously listed at 6’0” and 181 pounds, the 31-year-old New Hampshire native doesn’t exactly fill the net. I confess when he first came on the scene, his smallish frame didn’t fill me with confidence. Especially during an era when gargantuan goalies reign. Yet Casey compensates with quickness and athleticism. He generally does a good job of playing on top of his crease to make himself look bigger and cut down shooting angles.

Casey’s a battler, too.

Although more a traditional backup then say, a 1A, for the most part he’s been effective in an expanded role this season. An uneven stretch that ran from the holidays to late January coincided with the absences of key defensemen Kris Letang, Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, which no doubt had a negative impact on the team’s d-zone coverage.

Since the All-Star break, Casey’s posted a .918 save percentage over 13 appearances. He’s been even better in March, as his .923 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average in six games will attest.

A good thing, too, because we may may be forced to ride him in the wake of yet another injury to Jarry.

Bottom line? The Pens could do far worse than DeSmith for a backup and maybe not a whole lot better.