Passport snafu prompts a goalie shuffle
MONTREAL – An “honest mistake” cost Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith a weekend in Montreal and, more important, an opportunity to pull on a Penguins sweater for the first time this season.
The Penguins play backto-back games Saturday night in Montreal and late afternoon Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. Because goalie Tristan Jarry is scheduled to start the second half of the two games at home against the Florida Panthers, the Penguins thought they would get a little bit creative. They let Jarry stay in Pittsburgh to rest and planned to call up Casey DeSmith from
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to serve as the backup to Matt Murray.
One problem. You need a passport to get into Canada. In a season full of shuffling, DeSmith misplaced his somewhere.
“It’s unfortunate,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was an honest mistake. Casey’s had a lot going on in his life since last summer. He got married. He moved into a new house. He ends up going to WilkesBarre.”
The Penguins called an audible, calling up Emil Larmi from their ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers. If nothing else, it’s a nice pay day for Larmi. He makes about $4,000 every day he’s in the NHL and $400 every day he isn’t.
Meanwhile, for DeSmith, this just adds to what surely has been a frustrating season.
The 28-year-old backed up Matt Murray in 2018-19. After Murray struggled in November then went on injured reserve for four weeks, DeSmith helped the Penguins get their season back on the rails. In 36 games, 30 of them starts, he posted a 1511-5 record with a .916 save percentage and 2.93 goalsagainst average.
A year ago this month, the Penguins rewarded DeSmith with a three-year extension paying him $1.25 million per season. But this offseason, the Penguins had some decisions to make in goal. Teams around the league knew that the Penguins would have to either place DeSmith or Jarry on waivers before one could be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton.
Not wanting to risk losing a good, young goalie and second-round pick in Jarry for nothing, the Penguins placed DeSmith on waivers just before the season. He cleared and was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“We felt that, the lesser risk of [losing] the guy on waivers was Casey,” Penguins general Jim Rutherford told the Post-Gazette in mid-December. “Not that Casey was happy, but we were happy he got through.
While the move somewhat caught DeSmith off guard, it has proved to be the right one for the Penguins. Jarry has risen up the leader boards to become the NHL leader in goalsagainst average (1.94) and save percentage (.936). Not only has he squashed DeSmith’s chances of reclaiming the backup job, he has wrestled considerable playing time away from Murray. The start Saturday will mark Murray’s first of the New Year and just his fourth appearance since November.
“Obviously, Tristan has played extremely well,” Sullivan said. “That has had an influence on the decisions the coaching staff has made as far as who is starting in goal. We believe in Matt, as well. Matt has played some good games for us. He’s helping us win games also.”
Di Pauli debuts
Growing up in a small, northern Italian town of Caldaro, Thomas Di Pauli used to stay up until 1:30 in the morning to watch the NHL and dream about one day reaching the world’s best league.
“I remember watching Sidney Crosby play,” Di Pauli said. “That’s all you want to do as a little kid.”
Now, with Crosby not yet ready to return from his sports hernia surgery and Sam Lafferty sick, Di Pauli will get the opportunity to achieve the goal he set for himself all those years ago. He was called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in time for the game against Montreal. He began the game skating on the fourth line’s right wing with center Joseph Blandisi and left winger Dominik Kahun.