When Pittsburgh Penguin head coach Mike Sullivan pulled goaltender, Casey DeSmith, in the second overtime of Tuesday night's game against the New York Rangers, it was originally thought to be a cramp. I mean the backup had played nearly two full games in net in the span of four hours, cramping would be normal. Third stringer, Louis Domingue, came in for relief and the Penguins won the game. Starting goaltender, Tristan Jarry was already sidelined with a broken foot.
It was reported today that DeSmith was not simply just cramping. After missing last night's game, he was listed as day-to-day and Louis Domingue sustained the loss. Today it has come out that DeSmith underwent surgery on his core and will be out the rest of the season.
This leaves Domingue as the starter until Tristan Jarry, hopefully, returns. However, at this time there is no timetable for his return, despite Sullivan never actually ruling it out.
As the series shifts back to Pittsburgh tied 1-1, it is not good news for the Penguins. It was hard enough to win one game, taking 5+ full periods to do so. It will be even more difficult with their third string goaltender. Hopefully, other injuries like Jarry, Jason Zucker, and Rickard Rakell start to clear up for the Penguins before it's too late.