Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith rebounds after a somewhat dry January

Casey DeSmith didn’t do anything too elaborate during his team’s recent bye week.

By his description, he just drove south until it got warm.

Or, at least warm enough to play some disc golf.

In his case, he found sufficient calefaction outside of Charlotte, N.C.

He was probably due a little bit of downtime after one of the busiest months of his NHL career.

During January, DeSmith matched a career high for games in a month with 10 thanks to starter Tristan Jarry being hobbled by various injuries. DeSmith previously established that mark in both November and December of 2018.

DeSmith was 3-4-2 and had a 3.82 goals-against average as well as an .887 save percentage last month and drew plenty of scrutiny, especially after an unappetizing 6-4 home loss to the poor San Jose Sharks in which he made only 26 saves on 31 shots.

“It was a battle,” DeSmith said Sunday of his somewhat dry January. “I think that I played better than the results overall. That would probably be my biggest takeaway. Obviously, a good goals-against average is zero. And my goals-against average was not zero. Only trying to get better from here on out. Don’t know the situation with Tristan. But obviously just going into every practice trying to get better every day and build on last month and hopefully improve on it.”

That improvement was front and center on Tuesday as DeSmith steered the Penguins to an improbable victory in their first game after their nine-day break, a 2-1 overtime home win against the Colorado Avalanche.

The defending Stanley Cup champions dominated possession through the first half of the game and outshot the Penguins, 29-16. Despite that clear advantage of play, they only generated one goal — a four-on-four score in the second period — against DeSmith.

After a goal by forward Bryan Rust tied the score late in regulation and forced overtime, DeSmith and the Penguins penalty killers — forwards Josh Archibald, Teddy Blueger, Brock McGinn and Ryan Poehling as well as defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Jeff Petry — fended off a four-on-three power-play opportunity for the talented Avalanche in the extra period, allowing defenseman Kris Letang to score the winning goal.

It was one of the Penguins’ — and DeSmith’s — most impressive triumphs of the season.

“He gave us an opportunity to get points (Tuesday),” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. “He held us in there early in the game when we were getting outplayed. He made some big saves for us. When you watch the nature of how games are played in this league, in my mind, it’s so much about momentum. When you don’t have it, a lot of times, it’s a big save or a key save at a key time that helps teams find their legs or find their game, so to speak. I think that’s what great goaltending provides for teams.

“A lot of times, it’s those big saves that give teams an opportunity to win. (DeSmith) certainly did that for us (Tuesday).”

It’s anyone’s guess how much longer DeSmith will be pressed into service. Jarry appears to be close to a potential return to the lineup.

But for however much longer DeSmith is the team’s de facto top goaltender, he professes to have faith in his ability to fill that role. Tuesday’s stout success reaffirmed his faith in himself.

“I feel like I’m seeing the puck well,” DeSmith said. “Definitely feeling more and more comfortable as the games go by. Just happy to get wins at this point.”

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