Penguins Practice: DeSmith The Latest To Enter COVID-19 Protocol

The Pittsburgh Penguins added another player to COVID-19 protocol Monday. Backup goaltender Casey DeSmith was added and did not practice with the team in Anaheim, Calif.

The Penguins do not have back-to-back games scheduled for more than a week, so it’s conceivable that No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry can handle the load while DeSmith is out, with Louis Domingue serving as the backup.

DeSmith has had an up-and-down season. He is 3-3-1 with a 3.47 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage. In his most recent start, Wednesday against St. Louis, he got pulled after giving up three goals on 16 shots. Jarry relieved and got the win.

Tuesday night the Penguins continue their six-game road trip with a date against the Ducks in Anaheim. They are 1-1 so far, with the rest of the trip set as a trek through the western United States. Their 10-game winning streak ended Saturday when they lost at Dallas looking a little tired on top of being shorthanded.

Forwards Bryan Rust and Brock McGinn, who entered COVID-19 protocol on Saturday, remain out. So does forward Drew O’Connor, who entered into COVID-19 last week and, despite not practicing Monday, could be activated before Tuesday’s game.

Winger Jason Zucker, out on a week-to-week basis because of an undisclosed injury, also has not returned to practice. He began skating last week.

Star center Evgeni Malkin, who is expected to make his belated season debut any day now, also was at practice.

Malkin has been out since he had right knee surgery in June after limping through much of the latter part of last season.

Gratitude to Josh Getzoff for a look a the lines and pairings:

#Pens on the ice for practice. Casey DeSmith (Covid protocol) is absent.

Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
Carter-Malkin-Kapanen
ZAR-Blueger-Heinen
Bjorkqvist-Boyle-Simon

Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Matheson-Ruhwedel
Riikola-Friedman pic.twitter.com/EhN2qJgyRT

— Josh Getzoff (@PensJG) January 10, 2022