– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — Any backup goalkeeper wearing Victory Green has big skates to fill anytime they step in to spell Jake Oettinger, one of the best netminders in the league. On Sunday, Casey DeSmith was given his first shot at that role, and the Stars did not skip a beat and, once again, did not allow a goal.
DeSmith made 25 saves in his Dallas debut between the pipes as the Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-0 on Sunday, the Stars’ third consecutive win to start the season and second straight triumph via shutout. All of the scoring occurred late in the first period, as Sam Steel and Wyatt Johnston scored 14 seconds apart before going on lockdown mode for the rest of the game defensively.
DeSmith, who spent last season as the backup keeper in Vancouver and fis first five NHL seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, signed with the Stars in the offseason and will play an integral role in maintaining Oettinger’s minutes early on in a season where the Stars play nine games in the first 17 days of the season before a trip to Finland at the start of November to play back-to-back games against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
One night after Oettinger made 34 stops in defeating the New York Islanders in the Stars’ home debut, DeSmith was at his best in the final two periods against Seattle as the Kraken outshot Dallas 19-10 in the final 40 minutes.
“That was a blast. In front of the home crowd, obviously the guys played great. It feels good to participate and help the boys get a win,” DeSmith said. “[Back-to-back shutouts are] really rare. I don’t know that I’ve ever been a part of that. Probably not. What a way to start the year. Just shows that we’re playing the right way and hopefully that keeps going.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 16 pictures in total.
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