COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The last time the Penguins were here in Columbus, it was not a good night for Casey DeSmith.
It was Jan. 21, and DeSmith had just exited COVID protocol only days before. He wasn't quite 100 percent yet. It was the second game of a back-to-back, and it should have been Louis Domingue's start. But Domingue was injured after taking a puck to the right foot in the previous day's morning skate, forcing DeSmith into the game in Columbus earlier than both he and the Penguins would have liked.
DeSmith played just 20 minutes that night, and was yanked after allowing two soft goals on 12 shots in the first period. Tristan Jarry was perfect in relief for the remaining two periods to earn the win.
Sunday's game was the second of a back-to-back. Jarry got the nod at home on Saturday against the Rangers, giving DeSmith a shot at redemption in Columbus.
This time, he came through, earning No. 3 star in the Penguins' 3-2 win, stopping 32 of 34 shots faced.
He admitted after the win that there was "definitely" a little extra satisfaction putting up a performance like that in this building, against this team, given the way things went for him last time the Penguins were here.
"When you have a game you're not happy with in a building, it's nice to come back and play a good one, kind of like Ottawa earlier this year. It was nice to go back there and play well and get a win."
DeSmith might just be putting together a mini redemption tour.
DeSmith, obviously, had a tough start to the season. In his first nine games of the year, through that last Columbus appearance, he posted a .886 save percentage and 3.58 goals-against average. He got pulled in back-to-back games.
Since that last Columbus game, DeSmith has turned things around. Since then, DeSmith has played in five games and posted a .934 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average. He had a 26-save shutout in the aforementioned game in Ottawa.
Neither of the goals DeSmith let in in this one could really be called soft goals. The first goal came from Oliver Bjorkstrand early into the first period, after a sequence in which Brian Dumoulin turned the puck over then left Bjorkstrand wide-open in front of DeSmith:
The second goal came from Jack Roslovic midway through the middle frame, and came off of a weird, weird bounce. I don't know if the glass in this building is just way bouncier than glass in other buildings, or if pucks just kept hitting the perfect spots to make them deflect in wildly unpredictable ways, but that's what led to the Roslovic goal. Dumoulin tried to clear the puck out of the Penguins' end, and it hit the glass and landed right in Roslovic's lap:
"I didn't see the one in the second period until ... Well, actually, I didn't," DeSmith said of that goal. "I just saw him in front, the puck just dropped. So that was fortunate, but really weird bounces off the stanchions."
Bryan Rust called DeSmith's performance "phenomenal."
"He was confident back there, he was making big saves for us," Rust said. "And I think when you have that, that kind of rock back there -- and we have that in both of our goalies -- it's nice. It breeds confidence throughout the lineup."
After a strong performance like this one, DeSmith said that his confidence level is "a lot higher" now than it was earlier in the season.
"I think I've been doing a lot of good work with (goaltending coach Andy Chiodo), just kind of really getting back to the things that made me successful last year and the year before," DeSmith said. "I'm just going to try and stay with it and hopefully keep building."
Both DeSmith and Jarry have mentioned several times this year how huge Chiodo has been for their mental game, something Ron Hextall said was a strength Chiodo had over the offseason when the Penguins fired previous goaltending coach Mike Buckley and promoted Chiodo from the goaltending development position. At the All-Star Game in Las Vegas this month I spoke with Jarry and asked him what exactly it is about Chiodo that sets him apart when it comes to the mental side of things, and he spoke about Chiodo's general demeanor and approach.
"Just the way he carries himself," Jarry said. "He's a funny guy. He's always happy, he's always smiling. He's very positive. Just the message that he brings Casey and I, it's always positive. That's something you can really get behind. He's someone that if you have a bad day or a bad practice, he's always there to pick you up. I think that's something that really helped us here. It helped me starting to have a good season just to stay so positive. The things we were working on, he was always saying good things. The way he teaches is the same way."
The reasons for DeSmith's apparent resurgence go beyond just what's happening in his head, though. He thinks that Chiodo has helped him make more technical improvements as well.
"I'm getting a little bit more on my toes, a little bit more athletic," DeSmith said. "You know, I try not to be as blocky, also be be set on shots. Getting point-to-point a little bit quicker in my stance. ... Efficiency is the name of the game. Eliminating holes, I think is huge. That's something we've been working on too, just eliminating holes through the body. Jarry is really good at that, it's something I've been trying to work on."
DeSmith also gave a little nod to what's behind his head, too.
DeSmith got all-new pads following that last loss in Columbus, dropping the all-gold set for a primarily white set. When I asked him about the new set following his next game, a strong performance in a shootout loss to Detroit, he explained why he made the change.
"I needed out of those pads," he said. "Just not very good juju with those. I like the white, I think they look a little bit bigger. And just new pads in general make you feel bigger too."
The matching helmet to that new set just arrived earlier this week, and the helmet made its debut during DeSmith's relief appearance of Jarry on Thursday against the Devils. The new helmet is solid white with a black stripe down the middle, a gold cage and gold logos on the sides. The back of his last mask, designed for him by Teddy Blueger, paid tribute to his favorite show The Office with a depiction of Dwight Schrute on the back.
The new mask has a painting of DeSmith's cat Yoda, a cross between a hairless Sphynx and a short-legged Munchkin breed.
I asked him if Yoda just has better juju than Dwight, and he credited Yoda with an assist on Mark Friedman's goal-saving play at the goal line in the third period.
"I don't know about better juju," he said with a big grin. "Maybe (Yoda) was looking out for me. He was watching the puck behind me when Frieds scooped it off the goal-line. So kudos to 'Yodes' and 'Frieds' on that one."
