Penguins Recall Legace, DeSmith Scratched Sunday

It was a late-breaking development before game time on Sunday. The Penguins recalled goalie Maxime Legace from the taxi squad, and Casey DeSmith was not dressed for the Penguins’ tilt against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena, according to GM Ron Hextall.

The Penguins did not specify why DeSmith was scratched.

UPDATE: In his postgame comments, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said DeSmith was absent with a non-COVID related illness.

This season, the Penguins have had only one player enter the NHL COVID protocol. John Marino was placed in the system but was cleared a few days later.

Per the Pittsburgh Penguins release:

Lagace, 27, spent the 2019-20 campaign with the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins, appearing in 33 games. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound netminder helped Providence to the second-best record in the AHL, going 22-7-3 with a 2.37 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and five shutouts. His win total, goals-against average, save percentage, and shutout total were all AHL career highs.

A native of Saint-Augustin, Quebec, Lagace has played in 158 games across six seasons at the AHL level split between Providence, Chicago, and Texas. He put together an 82-44-17 record, 2.79 goals-against average, .908 save percentage, and eight shutouts. He’s also played in six career Calder Cup playoff games, going 2-3 with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.

The undrafted netminder has 17 games of NHL experience, all with the Vegas Golden Knights from 2017-19, where he went 6-8-1. Before going pro, Lagace played four years in the QMJHL with Prince Edward Island, Cape Brenton, and Shawinigan.