DeSmith Gets a Shutout as Penguins Earn Fourth Straight Win

WHAT HAPPENED
The Penguins earned their fourth straight win with a 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
Brock McGinn scored the game's lone goal, while Casey DeSmith made 33 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT
After earning his first win of the 2021-22 season on Monday, DeSmith picked up right where he left off on Saturday.
The netminder wasn't called upon to make many saves early-the Ducks had only eight shots after 20 minutes of play-but did well to keep a talented offensive squad off the board.
"Obviously, having played recently helps a lot. The more I get in the net, the more comfortable I become," DeSmith said. "It's pretty standard that the more you play, the more comfortable you feel out there. And then, I've just been working on kind of getting back to playing my game, playing a little more on my toes, a little more athletic."
Offensively, the Penguins spent a lot of time in Anaheim's end early. Although they didn't record any shots on goal, their efforts would soon be rewarded.
McGinn registered the team's first shot with 14:48 left in the frame, sending a one-timer past Pittsburgh native John Gibson for his second goal in as many games.
While the Penguins have been without Bryan Rust (upper-body) and Jake Guentzel (lower-body), McGinn has played a steady role in the Penguins' offense.
"I think I just want to come out and play my game. I think I always believed in my offense," he said. "Since coming here, I feel like I have a lot more confidence in my game and a lot more confidence with the puck."
Perhaps DeSmith's best save of the night came against Troy Terry on the power play. Anaheim's leading scorer with 15 goals in 27 games heading into tonight had a clear path to the goal, and DeSmith made a beautiful stop to help kill off the penalty.
Just minutes later, the NHL's top-ranked PK unit went to work again, killing off their 30th consecutive power play with relative ease.
Anaheim had the edge to begin the final period, and nearly evened things up off a redirect from Sam Steel. However, the puck dribbled between DeSmith's pads and went wide of the post. From there, the Penguins started to swing momentum back onto their side. They put 12 shots on Anthony Stolarz, who started the third period in goal after an injury to Gibson.
DeSmith was tested several times in the final two minutes, as Anaheim pulled Stolarz for the extra attacker. His left-pad save on Ryan Getzlaf with 10 seconds left secured his second-straight win between the pipes.
"We felt like he's been trending the right way all along. Casey's played a lot of really good hockey for us over his time here as a Penguin," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "We know he's a very capable guy. I thought he was terrific tonight."
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
- Finding a Way to Win
Saturday's win wasn't as jampacked offensively as the previous three, where the Penguins outscored their opponents 14-4, but the Penguins grinded for 60 minutes. And as Sullivan alluded to, his team can only benefit from being exposed to situations like tonight.
"If we're going to win games consistently, we can't just rely on scoring goals. We got to keep it out of our net," Sullivan said. "We got to play on both sides of the puck…Some nights, the puck will go in the net for us. Other nights, it won't. A game like tonight, it's a 1-0 game. We've got to learn how to play in those types of environments, and I thought the guys did a good job tonight.
- Penalty Kill Keeps Killing It
The Penguins have now gone 13-straight games without allowing a power-play goal, the longest such stretch in franchise history.
And they did it in pretty convincing fashion-holding the NHL's third-best PP unit scoreless, despite several threatening opportunities.
"It's something we look forward to. Any time you get to go against a team's top guys, it's something you take pride in," Zach Aston-Reese said. "Something we've been doing really well this year is being really aggressive on the fore-check, trying to limit their time. I think we're pressuring a lot more, instead of getting into that stagnant look. And we've been getting the bounces, too. Goalies have been helping out."