Penguins to start goaltender Casey DeSmith against Sabres

The Penguins are scheduled to start backup goaltender Casey DeSmith for Saturday’s road game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.

In eight games this season, DeSmith has a 5-2-0 record along with a 2.52 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

DeSmith has played in two career games against the Sabres and has a 1-0-1 record in those contests along with a 2.49 goals against average, a .924 save percentage and one shutout.

Notes:

• Defenseman John Marino is considered a “game-time” decision according to coach Mike Sullivan.

Marino missed Thursday’s 5-2 road win against the Sabres due to an undisclosed injury.

Prior to that, Marino had been the Penguins’ only defenseman who had yet to miss a game this season. In less than two months, the team has already used 12 different defenseman, primarily due to various injuries.

“Depth is an important aspect of trying to become a successful team and continuing to find ways to be competitive when players go down with injuries,” Sullivan said via video conference. “Fortunately, we feel as though we’ve got some depth at that position. And we’ve utilized all different types of players, whether it’s veteran guys like (Yannick Weber) that we signed out of necessity to try to put a complement of defensive depth together. Or a young player like P.O Joseph that comes up and contributes to help us win as well. We like we have some depth at that position. These guys that have stepped in have done a real good job for us.”

• The Penguins had an optional morning skate.

• The Sabres are slated to start goaltender Carter Hutton. In nine games this season, he has a 1-7-1 record along with a 3.40 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.

Hutton has strong career numbers against the Penguins. In eight games, he has a 5-1-0 record along with a 1.95 goals against average, a .940 save percentage and two shutouts.

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