It was said earlier on Wednesday that Pittsburgh Penguins current starting goaltender Casey DeSmith and forward Rickard Rakell were both considered "day-to-day" due to the injury setbacks they suffered during Tuesday night's 4-3 triple-overtime win at the New York Rangers in the opening contest of the first-round playoff series.
DeSmith's status for Thursday's Game 2 at Madison Square Garden became even less promising before the evening hours.
Per Jon Lane of the NHL's website, backup Louis Domingue, Pittsburgh's Game 1 hero on Tuesday, will likely start in place of DeSmith for at least Thursday's encounter. Game 3 will take place in Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
Domingue and emergency backup Reid Robertson practiced Wednesday, and the Pens have since recalled Alex D'Orio from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. D'Orio will presumably serve as Domingue's backup on Thursday.
DeSmith left Tuesday's matchup during the second overtime period with what's being called a lower-body injury and was replaced by Domingue, who previously notched just two NHL starts for Pittsburgh during the 2021-22 season. Domingue made 17 saves in sudden death and then watched as forward Evgeni Malkin scored a game-winner in the third extra frame.
"He's a goalie that's shown an ability to have success at this level," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Domingue. "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. I think that's what our management and hockey ops recognize."
Tristan Jarry, normally the Penguins starter, remains out with a reported right foot injury that's sidelined him since April 14 and is still rehabbing off the ice. There's no known timetable for his return to the lineup.
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