COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Casey DeSmith had a great performance here in Columbus, making 32 saves on 34 shots in the Penguins' 3-2 win.
The save of the night didn't come from DeSmith, nor did it come from Elvis Merzlikins down at the other end of the ice.
It came from defenseman Mark Friedman, playing in his second straight game since returning from his conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier this week.
It was near the midpoint of the third period, and the Penguins trailed by a goal. Gustav Nyquist flew up the left side of the ice and took a shot that was stopped by DeSmith. Emil Bemstrom picked up the rebound and took a shot that hit the left post, then bounced off and hit DeSmith's skate. The puck trickled behind DeSmith and was centimeters from completely crossing the goal line.
Friedman swept in and prevented a sure goal:
"I kind of rotated," DeSmith said of what happened on that play. "I thought it might have gone off the post in the corner. It was under my skate or something, and I kind of pushed it in. So good thing that Frieds was there."
Sometimes when something happens so quickly like that, players will describe the play as seemingly happening in slow motion before them.
Friedman said he experienced the opposite.
"I just heard the crowd cheering I didn't know if Casey really had possession of the puck," he said. "So I just looked behind him and the puck was slowly trickling across the goal line. And thankfully, I was there to make the save."
"It was a big save," Mike Sullivan said. "It was an important one at that time in the game."
Evgeni Malkin tied the game minutes later on a power play, and it was Sidney Crosby who scored the game-winner -- the 74th game-winning goal of his career, tying Mario Lemieux for the third-most in Penguins franchise history.
If Friedman doesn't make that stop in the third period, there's a chance that the would-be Bemstrom goal is too much for the Penguins to overcome.
DeSmith didn't know yet how he's going to repay Friedman for the potential game-saving stop. It sounds like that'll be up to Friedman.
"We'll see what he wants, but whatever he wants, he's gonna get it," DeSmith said.
What Friedman probably wants most right now is to carve out a regular spot in the lineup, and he's sure making a case for himself to stay there, at least during Mike Matheson's week-to-week absence with an upper-body injury.
I wrote this story and video breakdown on Saturday about Friedman's performance against the Rangers, which John Marino rightfully described as "impressive." When Friedman was on the ice against the Rangers the Penguins attempted 15 shots and only allowed two, the best on-ice shot attempt differential of any player in the game. That comes despite Friedman and his partner Chad Ruhwedel having the lowest percentage of offensive zone starts of any of the Penguins' defense pairings, with just three offensive zone faceoffs, six in the neutral zone, and four in the defensive zone.
His on-ice metrics were more average on Sunday, on the ice for 15 attempts for and 16 against in his 14:26 of ice time, but he still had an impressive showing. Other than the save, he continued to use his speed to take away Blue Jackets scoring opportunities, and join the Penguins' rush and create opportunities of his own. He was getting engaged physically, like this moment in the first period when he was defending the net-front and flipped Boone Jenner over (with Jenner seemingly adding some embellishment on the way down, trying to draw a call that didn't happen):
Friedman assessed his own play over these past two games as being "pretty solid."
"I really like my game," he said. "My compete level and my skating ability has shown, and getting up into the play is one of my strengths. And if I keep doing that, then I like where my game's heading."
As a right-handed shot, Friedman stepping into Matheson's spot on the left side would technically be considered his "off" side, but I'm not so sure that you could call it that anymore. He's played primarily on the left since being claimed off waivers from the Flyers last season. He spent a lot of time on the left in the AHL with the Flyers' affiliate in Lehigh Valley, and he played on the left in college at Bowling Green. It may not be his natural side, but you wouldn't be able to tell that by the way he's played these last two games.
I asked Friedman Sunday if he thinks he's just as comfortable on the left now as he is on his natural side, and he gave a great answer.
"Honestly, I don't care," he said. "It's just an opportunity for me to play. I don't care if it's center, left wing or left D, I just want to get out there and play hockey."
He might as well add "goalie" to that list of positions too after his save here in Columbus.
