Louis Domingue remembers dragging a net out into the street, pulling on his rollerblades and dreaming of what it would be like to be in the NHL playoffs.
The reality is surpassing the Pittsburgh Penguins’ backup-to-the-backup goaltender’s greatest expectations.
The journeyman stopped 32 shots — including a handful on the penalty kill in the third period with the Penguins reeling — to set the stage for Danton Heinen’s late tally as Pittsburgh surged past the New York Rangers 7-4 on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
Photo: AP
“In the last whatever, seven years, I’ve been in and out of the league. It’s the first time I’m a rookie again,” said Domingue, thrust into action with All-Star Tristan Jarry and top reserve Casey DeSmith unavailable due to injury.
The Penguins grabbed control of the series heading into Monday night’s game 4 by chasing Vezina Trophy-favorite Igor Shesterkin in the first period, blowing a three-goal cushion in the second, and then responding even with the top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust contributing nothing on the scoreboard until the Rangers’ net was empty in the final minutes.
“A lot of teams don’t recover from [losing a three-goal advantage],” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think it speaks volumes to the leadership and the character of our group.”
The Penguins killed off a pair of penalties in the first half of the third to keep the score tied, before Heinen jumped on a loose puck near the New York goal line and flicked a shot by Alexandar Georgiev 11 minutes, 2 seconds into the third period to put the Penguins in front to stay.
The Rangers’ Andrew Copp provided a tying score that seemed inevitable after Kevin Rooney stripped Letang and darted to the net. Domingue made the initial save, but Copp knocked in the loose puck as the net was dislodged to draw the Rangers even with 4:01 left in the second.
However, the go-ahead goal never materialized as the Rangers failed to reclaim home ice in a series that could go the distance.
“We had a chance to change the game and we couldn’t get one,” Rangers forward Ryan Strome said. “So it was obviously frustrating, especially after clawing all the way back.”
Also on Saturday, it was:
‧ Capitals 6, Panthers 1
‧ Avalanche 7, Predators 3
‧ Stars 4, Flames 2
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