The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers gave us our money’s worth on Tuesday night.
In Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series, the Penguins and Rangers set records en route to a wildly entertaining triple overtime game. Stars from both teams stole the show early, but by the end, it was all about the goaltending.
On the winning side, the Penguins entered this game without their starting goaltender, Tristan Jarry. The 27-year-old starter has missed the last several games for Pittsburgh with an injury, so Casey DeSmith was tasked with starting Game 1.
He has played well down the stretch for the Pens, and he did not disappoint in the opening game of the postseason. In just over 89 minutes of action, DeSmith faced 51 shots from the Rangers and stopped 48 of them.
Goaltending led the way for the Penguins and Rangers in Game 1.
However, an apparent injury forced DeSmith out of the game in the second overtime period. At that point, approximately four hours after last seeing action in warmups, Louis Domingue was called upon to save the game for Pittsburgh.
In about 16 and a half minutes on the ice, Domingue was perfect. He was tested early and often and made a total of 17 saves. His play enabled the Penguins to pick up a critical Game 1 victory.
It’s hard to say enough about a guy that came in as cold as could be and played as well as Domingue did. He played two games all season for the Pens, but he came in and took care of business when they needed him the most.
On the other side, Igor Shesterkin was lights out for the Rangers, as he faced 83 Penguins shots, stopping 79 of them. That performance was a franchise record for the 26-year-old, and his 79 stops are the second-most ever in an NHL contest.
Shesterkin saved the game on several occasions, and it took a redirect by Evgeni Malkin to finally end the game and propel the Penguins to a 1-0 series lead.
The Pens and Rangers will do it again in Game 2 on Thursday night in New York.