Let's face it, before this season began, one of the biggest questions surrounding the the Pittsburgh Penguins was how they would improve their goaltending. Both Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith failed to find consistency and the former struggled to stay healthy. As a result, the Penguins struggled and the entire team suffered the consequences with their first playoff miss in nearly two decades. New president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas made it a priority to address the goaltending situation, and it's finally bearing fruit.
Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves and won his third straight game after a seven-game winless skid. Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver (12-4-1), which lost for just the second time in nine games. Casey DeSmith finished with 34 saves in his first loss of the season. Vancouver defenseman Filip Hronek had his 11-game point streak snapped.
Casey DeSmith is feeling right at home with the Canucks. With what he feels is an incredibly talented Vancouver team at every position, he's carved out his own special role over the last two months. “I'm trusting my game, trusting the process,” DeSmith said. “Thankfully I've gotten a lot of games early in the season here, which has been really helpful. In the past, sometimes I didn't play my first game for a week and a half, two weeks into the season. Having Training Camp then you don't play for two weeks, that's a little bit tougher, but I've played every week here which is really helpful for any goalie, but especially me.” He relieved Thatcher Demko in the third period of the first game of
No | Player | P |
---|---|---|
88 | C | |
53 | C | |
6 | RW | |
55 | D | |
82 | D | |
29 | G | |
35 | G | |
34 | LW | |
51 | D | |
8 | RW | |
21 | LW | |
17 | D | |
43 | D | |
81 | C | |
47 | D | |
94 | C | |
96 | LW | |
18 | C | |
65 | RW | |
9 | C | |
57 | D | |
40 | C | |
5 | D | |
7 | D | |
24 | C | |
91 | D |