Penguins A to Z: Louis Domingue met (limited) expectations

With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Louis Domingue

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Right

Age: 30

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 208 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: Two games, 1-1-0 record, 2.02 goals against average, .952 save percentage, zero shutouts

2021-22 AHL statistics: 22 games, 10-9-4 record, 2.41 goals against average, .924 save percentage, zero shutouts

Contract: On a one-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Unrestricted free-agent signing, Sept. 2, 2021

Last season: When you’re unsigned in September as an NHLer, you’re not in a good place.

And Louis Domingue wasn’t anywhere near the gravitational field of “good” by the time he joined the Penguins a few weeks before training camp opened.

After playing only four games — one in the NHL and three in the American Hockey League — during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, Domingue admitted he had a lack of belief in himself before joining the Penguins.

Some quality time with Penguins goaltending coach Andy Chiodo turned things around for Domingue who — aside from a brief recall in mid-November — spent most of the first two and a half months of the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Platooning with Filip Lindberg — at least until Lindberg suffered a season-ending ankle injury in November — Domingue’s first 10 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton saw him go 3-4-2 with a 2.69 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.

When the NHL re-instituted taxi squads due to an outbreak of covid-19 cases league-wide, Domingue was summoned to that group Dec. 28. After bouncing back and forth between the NHL roster and taxi squad a handful of times, Domingue was pressed into service Jan. 15 with backup Casey DeSmith sidelined due to covid-19. Making 40 saves on 41 shots, Domingue steered the Penguins to a 2-1 overtime road win against the San Jose Sharks.

Domingue appeared to be in line to get another game or two while DeSmith convalesced, but he suffered a right-foot injury during a morning skate Jan. 20 and landed on injured reserve. After recovering, Domingue was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

After 12 more AHL games — along with a 7-5-0 record, a 2.19 goals against average and .929 save percentage during that stretch — Domingue was recalled to the NHL roster again April 15 in the wake of starter Tristan Jarry’s own right foot injury.

After making 39 saves on 42 shots in a 3-0 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on April 24, Domingue entered the postseason as the backup to DeSmith.

Domingue then literally entered the postseason during the second overtime period of Game 1 of a first-round series against the New York Rangers when DeSmith suffered a season-ending core muscle injury May 3. Stopping all 17 saves he faced, Domingue led the Penguins to a wild 4-3 win and became something of a folk hero when he revealed he had consumed a spicy pork and broccoli dinner during the game before taking the ice.

After directing the team to a 3-1 series lead, Domingue was unable to get that fourth win. In Game 6 on May 13, he allowed the game-winning goal with 1:28 remaining in regulation of a contest that the Penguins lost 5-3 at home.

Two nights later, Domingue was replaced by a hobbled Jarry for Game 7, which the Penguins lost in overtime, 4-3.

Appearing in six games during the series, Domingue had a 3-3 record, a 3.65 goals against average and an .898 save percentage.

The future: Domingue was a reclamation project who met expectations — as limited as they were — in 2021-22. He was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s best goaltender, at least based on statistics, and he played well enough to potentially win each of his two regular season starts.

His presence in the playoffs was a remarkable story, but his deficiencies were clear during the Penguins’ first-round loss.

A better goaltender could have won that series before it even got to seven games. Then again, the ceiling for a third-string goaltender who has played for six different NHL teams over eight seasons is only so high.

Domingue and management each seem to be happy with his station as the organization’s third goaltender. Working with Chiodo appears to be genuinely appreciated by Domingue and, by all accounts, he is a first-class teammate off the ice. Additionally, the Penguins have no prospects on the verge of reaching the NHL in 2022-23.

As a pending unrestricted free agent, it’s hard to imagine he would garner much attention on a free agent market that is likely going to be bloated with goaltenders this offseason. So retaining him on a similar contract wouldn’t be all that difficult or outlandish.