After
making NHL history
as the first-ever goaltender to enter a playoff contest in the second overtime period or later in Pittsburgh's 4-3 triple overtime Game 1 victory, Louis Domingue will start Game 2 for the Penguins tonight at Madison Square Garden.
Louis Domingue Will Start Game 2
Casey DeSmith has been ruled out for tonight with a lower-body injury
"He's an NHL goalie, he's played a significant amount of games at this level, and he's shown an ability to have success," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "Depth in all the positions is so critically important at this time of year. We're living it right now. That's the importance of that No. 3 goalie.
"In the event that you have to go to them, if you can fill that position with a real capable guy that has NHL experience, I think that's a huge bonus. And I think Louis checks all those boxes."
Domingue entered Tuesday's game midway through double overtime in relief of Casey DeSmith, who left with a lower-body injury after stopping 48 of 51 shots. His status is day-to-day, and he will not be available tonight. Neither is All-Star Tristan Jarry, who is going through the rehab process from the lower-body injury that has sidelined him since April 15, and has yet to take the ice.
That means Alex D'Orio, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, will serve as the backup. The 23-year-old netminder split his season between WBS, where he appeared in 11 games, and Wheeling of the ECHL, where he played in 11 games.
"He's excited," Sullivan said. "It's hard to play in this league. It's very competitive. There's a lot of really good players, and when guys get an opportunity to be part of an NHL team, it's exciting for all of them. Alex is no different."
Domingue had 142 NHL regular-season games to his name - including two with Pittsburgh in 2021-22 - going into Tuesday, but just 18 minutes of playoff experience that came with Tampa in 2018.
Despite that and the craziness of the situation in general, Domingue said he didn't feel any pressure - that having such an opportunity was a dream come true, and he just had fun with it. That confidence is what has stood out to Sullivan the most about the 30-year-old Quebec native during his time with Pittsburgh this season.
"He has a little swagger to him. I think that serves him well," Sullivan said. "It's such an important aspect, I think, of being not only an athlete, but in particular a goalie. He has a confidence about him, he believes in his game, and I think you can see it in his body language. I think it's contagious with our group."
Believing in his game is what should help Domingue come into a situation that could potentially have a different kind of pressure in the sense that he's gotten a lot more time to think, versus just getting thrown in.
"I think Louis understands that it's a hockey game," Sullivan said. "It's the same game that he plays all the time. That's the approach that we take with all of our players. We talk a lot with our guys about just staying in the moment and just focusing on the task at hand. It's that shift, it's that moment, and not getting ahead of yourself and not getting overwhelmed by the circumstances or the noise that goes around playoff hockey."
OTHER INJURY UPDATES: RAKELL OUT, ZUCKER GAME-TIME
Rickard Rakell also remains day-to-day after leaving in the first period of Game 1 following a high hit from Ryan Lindgren. He will not play tonight.
In his absence, Kasperi Kapanen had moved up alongside Danton Heinen and Evgeni Malkin. We'll see if that sticks depending on the status of Jason Zucker, as Sullivan said the winger will be a game-time decision tonight.
Zucker missed the regular-season finale against Columbus after leaving in the first period of their prior game versus Edmonton. Overall, he missed 41 total games due to injury - mainly related to core muscle injury repair surgery on Jan. 25 - during 2021-22.
"As you can imagine, it's been discouraging, it's been very frustrating for him," Sullivan said. "He's a competitive guy, wants to be on the ice, wants to be around the team, wants to help the team win. He's been dealt a tough hand this year with respect to some of the injuries that he's trying to battle through. But he's a real competitive guy. He's done a good job controlling what he can. And he's an important player for us."
