COLUMBUS, Ohio — The backup goalie situation has now reached DEFCON 1.
It took only two cannon blasts at Nationwide Arena on Friday night for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan to yank Casey DeSmith. It was the second time this month he had to turn to Tristan Jarry in relief in the second half of a back-to-back.
DeSmith’s game has unraveled again and he has clearly lost the faith of Sullivan and his staff. Making matters worse, there is no obvious alternative in the organization right now, not with Louis Domingue spotted on crutches on Thursday.
The Penguins did beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2. Sidney Crosby had a hat trick plus an assist as they extended their latest winning streak to four games.
But questions about their backup goalie overshadowed the final outcome.
Friday was DeSmith’s first start in 16 days. He allowed only one goal over his two starts in December, giving hope he had rediscovered his form. But he got shelled in his first two starts of 2022, getting pulled in the latter of the two losses.
DeSmith wasn’t even on track to start on Friday. He got in just one practice after returning from COVID-19. But plans changed after Domingue suffered a fluke injury at Thursday’s morning skate, denying him another chance to stake his claim on the No. 2 gig. Instead, DeSmith got the second half of a back-to-back.
The Penguins spotted DeSmith a 1-0 lead before he even had to make a save. Brian Dumoulin got the scoring started just 32 seconds into the game, walking in from the point to snap a shot past the outstretched glove of Joonas Korpisalo.
With the other helper on Dumoulin’s goal, Kris Letang pushed his career-best point streak to 10 games. That is tied for the second-longest streak by a defenseman in Penguins history. Hall of Famer Paul Coffey holds the record at 13 games.
The Blue Jackets would jump ahead after two pucks leaked through DeSmith.
Their first goal came short-handed, after a giveaway by Evgeni Malkin at their blue line. The big Russian, in his sixth game back from major knee surgery, lost a race against Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist whiffed on his initial shot but regathered the puck and put it under DeSmith’s arm to score from an improbable angle.
Later in the period, Boone Jenner’s shot from in tight sneaked between DeSmith’s left arm and leg pad and just barely trickled over the goal line. We are talking mere millimeters. The kneeling DeSmith, thinking he had squeezed it, was frozen like a video-game character when someone’s controller got disconnected.
When the second period began, Jarry, who has cooled off the last two weeks, was standing inside the Pittsburgh crease. DeSmith was on the bench in a baseball cap. A similar scenario unfolded Jan. 5 in the wild comeback win over St. Louis.
Once again, Jarry pitched a shutout in relief. He made 15 saves to get the win.
Jarry entered a 2-2 game because Crosby had scored with 31 seconds left in the first period. That made it three straight games with a goal for the captain.
The Penguins pulled away in the third with goals from Mike Matheson and Crosby then Crosby again. He hit an empty net for his first hat trick of 2021-22.
Now, what can the Penguins do with DeSmith? Besides turning to prayer or having Ron Hextall hope on the phone to talk trades with rival general managers?
Domingue is on injured reserve, so he is out for at least two more games. He was still being evaluated Friday — probably not a good sign. Plus, zoom out and he has a .889 save percentage in the NHL the past three years. Hardly a sure thing.
Filip Lindberg, an intriguing first-year pro who led UMass to a NCAA championship last spring, is also on the shelf. He posted stellar numbers in his first four American Hockey League starts but hasn’t played since getting injured Nov. 12.
The only other goalie on an NHL contract is Alex D’Orio, who spent time on the taxi squad last season. But he has underwhelming numbers at both the AHL and ECHL levels this season. He was in goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday.
Among the theoretical options on the trade market are Vancouver’s Jaroslav Halak, Semyon Varlamov of the New York Islanders and Dallas’ Anton Khudobin.
The guy in the other net Friday could be up for grabs as well. Korpisalo made several sparkling saves against the Penguins, shutting down a pair of breakaways during the second period and stuffing Crosby’s point-blank one-timer in the third.
Knowing Hextall, patient during his time in Philadelphia and throughout his first year in Pittsburgh, he probably won’t do something shortsighted. Perhaps with the Penguins having won 14 of their last 16 games entering Friday, he feels no urgency to make a move. But the backup situation as it stands is untenable.
After stopping just 10 of 12 shots Friday, DeSmith’s save percentage dipped to .886 and his 3.57 goals-against average puts him among the NHL’s worst goalies. He has allowed three or more goals or gotten the hook in seven of nine starts.
The Penguins will be back on the ice Sunday when they host the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena at 1 p.m. That’s the first of six straight games at home.
