PITTSBURGH — The Penguins didn’t have their legs Saturday night. They didn’t have much offense either. But they had a locked-in Casey DeSmith. And that would be enough.
With the Penguins seemingly out of gas in the second half of a back-to-back, their goalie made 33 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Brock McGinn got their lone goal in their 1-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins entered Saturday on a three-game winning streak, out-scoring their opponents, 14-4, over that span. Overall, they had won eight of the last 11.
But the young Ducks club was already here in Pittsburgh, resting and waiting, as the Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-2, in D.C. on Friday night.
The Ducks are one of the league’s biggest surprises in the first half of the season, sitting at second place in the Pacific Division. Against the Penguins, they had seven skaters 25 or younger in their lineup, including Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano, who a few nights ago teamed up for the prettiest goal of the season.
The Penguins jumped out to an early lead 5:12 into the first period with a goal from McGinn. The winger one-timed a backhand pass from Zach Aston-Reese through John Gibson, the Whitehall native, for his second goal in as many games.
That was just one of six Penguins shots on goal in a sluggish opening period. The second was even less productive in terms of quality looks, and they had just three high-danger scoring chances through two periods, per Natural Stat Trick.
But the Penguins were still up, 1-0, entering the third, largely due to DeSmith and their penalty kill, which had smothered two more to make it 30 in a row.
With the Penguins playing on consecutive nights, DeSmith was handed his second start in the last three games. He was sharp in Monday’s 6-1 win in Seattle, but there was little pressure, with the team scoring three quick goals in that one.
He was leaned on early Saturday, with the Penguins unable to find energy.
DeSmith shuffled across to stop Jakob Silfverberg on a 2-on-1, one of five saves on shots from the slot during the first period, per Sportlogiq. In the second, he twice shut down Troy Terry after the Ducks winger walked Brian Dumoulin and later Kris Letang. He also stopped Nicolas Deslauriers on another odd-man rush.
Early in the third period, McGinn nearly got his second goal of the night. But with Anthony Stolarz, who replaced the injured Gibson after the second, down and out, Cam Fowler got his stick on McGinn’s shot at an otherwise exposed net.
And the Ducks would keep pushing. DeSmith fought off a Milano shot after a slick feed from Zegras behind the net and a big Buddy Robinson blast. Then Fowler rang the left post with a long shot through traffic that DeSmith couldn’t track.
With the Anaheim net empty, DeSmith sealed the win with a right pad save on Ryan Getzlaf, who whizzed a shot from the slot as the final seconds ticked down.
Other than that one, the Penguins were pretty stout at 6-on-5, a problem area early in the second. They mostly kept a skilled Ducks squad on the perimeter.
DeSmith, after losing his first four starts of the season, has now won two games in a row, allowing one total goal. That is a relief for the Penguins, who were worried about overworking Tristan Jarry, one of the NHL’s busiest goalies this season.
Danton Heinen took a two-game goal-scoring streak into Saturday’s game against his former team. With eight goals through 26 games, he already had one more than he had in his lone season with the Ducks. But he couldn’t get one Saturday.
Sidney Crosby also saw his point streak snapped at seven games. The captain was in pain during the first period after he got whacked in either his left hand or his surgically-repaired left wrist during a faceoff. But he didn’t miss a shift.
The Penguins have now killed 30 straight penalties over their last 13 games.
The Penguins’ three-game homestand will continue Tuesday when the Montreal Canadiens visit PPG Paints Arena. Then the Buffalo Sabres visit on Friday.
