NEW YORK -- The Penguins had two significant losses Tuesday night in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup playoff series with the Rangers, with Rickard Rakell leaving in the first period after a high hit by New York's Ryan Lindgren, and Casey DeSmith leaving in the second overtime with a lower-body injury.
Neither player participated in Wednesday's optional practice at Madison Square Garden. Mike Sullivan said after practice that both Rakell and DeSmith were continuing to be evaluated, and that they both are considered "day-to-day."
If Rakell isn't ready to return for Game 2 Thursday, it'll be either Jason Zucker or Drew O'Connor taking his place. Sullivan categorized Zucker as still "day-to-day" Wednesday, but Zucker participated in the practice, the second day in a row in which he skated with the team.
As far as a backup goaltender goes, there's only one option for who can back up Louis Domingue if DeSmith is out: Alex D'Orio. That's because D'Orio and Filip Lindberg are the only two NHL-contracted goaltenders in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Lindberg suffered a season-ending injury in November.
Sure enough, D'Orio was recalled from Wilkes-Barre shortly after the conclusion of practice.
D'Orio, 23, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Penguins and is currently in his third professional season. After joining Wilkes-Barre midseason last year after a recall from Wheeling, D'Orio caught fire and took over as the starter. He appeared in 11 games with Wilkes-Barre to finish that season, leading the team's goaltenders in goals-against average (2.18), save percentage (.915).
D'Orio looked to carry that success into this season with Wilkes-Barre, but a run of various injuries and illnesses had him in a tough spot early in the season. He had an ear infection in training camp, got the flu after camp, and was dealing with some bumps and bruises. He was sent to Wheeling where he was able to get healthy and get back up to regular form. He earned a recall to Wilkes-Barre and promptly got COVID-19, which sidelined him for two weeks.
Once D'Orio was healthy again, he split the net with AHL-contracted Tommy Nappier until Domingue came back from his injury and D'Orio was shifted to more of a third goaltender role, before earning a handful of starts to finish the season once Domingue got called back up. He played a total of 22 games with Wilkes-Barre, posting a 2.91 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.
This is D'Orio's second NHL recall. He was recalled for the 2020-21 regular-season finale, when both Jarry and DeSmith were injured and Max Lagace started against Buffalo. D'Orio dressed as backup that game.
If DeSmith is out for any significant length of time, the Penguins are confident in Domingue's ability to take over the starting role for the time being,
"That No. 3 goalie, in the event that you have to go to them if you can, if you can fill that position with a real capable guy that has NHL experience, I think that's a huge bonus," Sullivan said. "And I think Louis checks all those boxes. He's had a really good year for us. He's played consistently well in Wilkes. The games that he's got into here and in Pittsburgh with our team, he's played very well for us. He's a very capable guy."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Tristan Jarry has still yet to skate. Sullivan said he's "continuing his rehab off the ice."
• It was just an optional practice, but there was a surprising heavy turnout given that the team nearly played a double-header the night before. Participants were Domingue, Mark Friedman, Nathan Beaulieu, Drew O’Connor, Bryan Rust, Brock McGinn, Danton Heinen, John Marino, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen, Kris Letang, Mike Matheson, Brian Boyle, Chad Ruhwedel and Zucker
• Filling in as the second goaltender in practice was Rangers emergency backup goaltender Reid Robertson. Robertson, 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, recently completed his senior season at Division III Manhattanville College. Robertson serves as the EBUG for both the home and visiting teams in New York, so if either the Penguins or Rangers happen to need an emergency backup this series, Robertson would be the guy coming in.
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
Reid Robertson.
• Players didn't do anything too different to recover after playing in a game that long.
"The usual stuff that we've been doing all year," Kapanen said. "Whatever you need to do with the training staff and the massage guys. Just maybe feeling a little bit sore after such a long game, but I think it's the usual stuff."
Kapanen said that during the intermissions, players were eating fruit and other food to get energy.
"Unlike Louis," Kapanen said with a smile. "Louis pulled a spicy pork. I don't think he expected to go in, which is understandable. But he did a phenomenal job for us."
Kapanen said that going into Game 2, the team would like to "not let them get some speed and odd-man rushes, and try to hold the puck a bit longer in our zone. And when we're in their zone, just playing a heavier game. They play a physical game too. You could see in the first period, they were running a lot of our D and a lot of our guys and I think we've just got to respond to that."
• The Rangers didn't practice Wednesday.
• Rust is the Penguins’ nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award goes annually to the player “who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
