Do the Penguins have a goaltending controversy on their hands?
Was Matt Murray a one-hit -- OK, two-hit -- wonder?
Inquiring minds want to know.
That's a hard no on both accounts. But Mike Sullivan and the Penguins will clearly have a goaltending question on their hands later this week. And the waters became a little more muddied Tuesday night when Casey DeSmith turned in yet another solid performance in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Canucks at PPG Paints Arena.
Sure, you can argue the goalie's culpability on Brock Boeser's game-winning goal on Vancouver's only shot in overtime, 34 seconds into the extra session. Short-side goals never sit well, and Boeser's certainly didn't with DeSmith.
"He kind of came in off the rush, walked across, and shot blocker side," said DeSmith, who made 23 saves, 17 of them in the first two periods. "I made a good read on the shot. Just found a hole under my arm. Obviously, I'd like to have that one back. The guys played great tonight. They deserved better than that."
DeSmith really shouldn't be so hard on himself. There's a reason why the Canucks' forward scored 29 goals in just 62 games last season as a rookie.
And the last part about the guys playing "great?" Not too sure about that either, Casey. It was a ‘Tuesday night game in October against a Western Conference opponent’ kind of effort in the first period for the home team.
To their credit, the Penguins were opportunistic, converting a pair of 2-on-1 breaks against a Canucks defense that seemed all too happy to sit back after taking a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
No, the Penguins didn't lose because of DeSmith.
They lost because a team that is supposed be an offensive juggernaut has scored just 2.5 goals per game since their seven-goal outburst against the Capitals in the season opener. They have faced three straight backup goalies and have just one win to show for it.
That they have been able to take four of a possible six points over that stretch is remarkable, all things considered. For that, they have their own backup goalie to thank.
"It was a tough game for a goalie," Sullivan was saying of DeSmith. "When you don't score a lot of goals, there's not a lot of margin for error."
The identity of the Penguins is -- and has been for a quarter century-plus -- that of their offense. But as they have during the first five games this season, the Penguins have shown only a passing interest in playing sound defense. Their problems were only compounded on Saturday when Justin Schultz was lost for four months.
The Penguins' new-look defensive pairings began with Juuso Riikola paired with Olli Maatta and Jack Johnson with Jamie Oleaksiak. They finished with Rikkola paired with Johnson and Maatta with Oleksiak. Either way, it was much of the same.
Exhibit A was Ben Hutton's goal at the 8:55 mark of the first period:
It's not just the defensemen at fault either. Bryan Rust got caught chasing, while Riley Sheahan is behind the net.
Sure, DeSmith is slow to get back up on his skates after making the initial stop but look at all the guys in black with their heads turned toward Tim Schaller. The last guy who could score from that area of the ice with any regularity was Wayne Gretzky. With due respect, Schaller isn't Gretzky. He's a fourth-liner on a team which finished with 70 points last season.
"I kind of wished I showed a little more poise on the first one, at least," DeSmith was saying. "But yeah, they played solid. We played great. Probably our best game of the season so far. Definitely stings coming away with an overtime loss."
It should be noted that DeSmith sounded sincere when he said that, too. He commended his teammates' character for sending the game into overtime on Carl Hagelin's late goal. Guess it goes to show how low the bar has been set this October.
The Penguins will need better from all on Thursday night when they play the NHL-leading Maple Leafs in Toronto. There is little chance they can sleepwalk through 20 minutes against Auston Matthews and Co. and still expect to come away with a loser's point.
Whether it's DeSmith or Murray in goal, the Penguins must play better in front of him. And that really is the question as the Penguins begin a four-game road trip through Canada beginning Thursday: Will it be DeSmith or Murray?
After Murray was cleared of concussion protocol and served as the backup in Montreal, it was assumed that he would get the start Tuesday against the Canucks.
It would have seemed a great opportunity for Murray to get his feet wet. Now the Penguins could be throwing Murray into the fire against a Maple Leafs team which is scoring a league-best 4.71 goals per game. Sullivan reiterated earlier Tuesday that Murray is the No. 1 goalie, but he's also given up 11 goals in his two starts before suffering his second concussion in eight months.
It's a tough call. DeSmith hasn't been great, but he's been good enough.
"I'm happy with the way I'm playing and seeing the pucks and all that," he said. "Obviously, I wish it was three wins. Four points is good but six points is a lot better. Definitely not satisfied with the shootout loss and the overtime loss."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Brock Boeser
Canucks left winger
The Calder Trophy runner-up last season was largely invisible for 60:33 on Tuesday. Boeser had a modest three shots, none of them high-danger scoring chances. But a sniper like the former University of North Dakota star needs only one shot to change a game, and he did just that :34 seconds into overtime.
2. Phil Kessel
Penguins right winger
Hagelin was saying the other day that he was more than "just a decoy" and can contribute offensively. How right he was. Hagelin netted the tying goal at 16:46 of the third period but the full credit goes to Kessel. The Penguins took full advantage of Hutton's ill-timed pinch -- one of the few mistakes Vancouver made all night -- as Evgeni Malkin picked up the loose puck and fed Kessel. With only Erik Gudbranson back, Kessel fired a centering pass to Hagelin, who drove the net and buried it. Kessel's shot is the stuff of lore and Gudbranson tried to respect it. Instead, he got burned because Kessel can dish as well as he scores.
3. Brandon Sutter
Canucks center
Sutter scored 45 of his 133 career goals in a Penguins uniform but scored his fourth against his former team at 18:56 of the first period to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead. With Johnson leaving his man to chase Schaller at the right side of the net, the Canucks' forward sent a pass across the goal crease where Sutter, unattended, put it in from a sharp angle.
THE GOOD
The Penguins' top line with Crosby, Guentzel and Derick Brassard showed even better chemistry than they did Saturday night in Montreal and were able to score one goal and create a couple of quality scoring chances.
Guentzel and Crosby recorded three shots each, while the line's possession numbers were on the right side of 50 percent.
"I think Brass has played really well," Sullivan said. "I think that line had some quality chances. He can play that give-and-go game. When Sid is at his very best, I think he's the best player in the game underneath the hash marks.
"We have high expectations when it comes to that aspect of his game and his line's game."
Sullivan was non-committal on keeping the trio intact, but it was the Penguins' best line by far.
Guentzel opened the scoring at 6:24 of the first when he looked off Crosby on a 2-on-1 and fired a shot under the arm of Anders Nilsson:
It was Guentzel's fourth goal of the season in just five games. That is playoff-like production from the 24-year-old who is blossoming into a legitimate -- regular season included -- star in the league.
THE BAD
Despite his chances, Crosby has now gone five games without a goal. The last time he went goal-less in five games to start a season was in 2015-16. That season turned out OK though, as Crosby scored his first in his sixth game and scored 35 more on the season as the Penguins went on to win the first of two straight Stanley Cup championships.
THE PLAY
Rarely is there a great time for a line change during 3-on-3 overtime, particularly if a team is not in possession of the puck. But that's what the Penguins were trying to do when Boeser scored the game-winner.
Crosby signaled toward the bench for a change but, seeing no one up to take his place, he hesitated momentarily before being called back to the bench. By the time Malkin stepped on the ice it was too late, as what had been a 1-on-2 for Boeser quickly developed into a 3-on-2 when Bo Horvat and Edler joined the rush.
It was a slight miscue between the Penguins' two best players and it proved costly.
THE CALL
Actually, make it the non-calls. Plural. With just under five minutes to play in the opening period, Guentzel was twice on the receiving end of infractions that were simply not seen and not enforced.
In the defensive zone, Guentzel was clipped in the face by a high stick of Nikolay Goldobin. Moments later on the other end, as he drove to the net to take a centering pass from Brassard, it appeared that Alex Edler did a nice job of bottling up Guentzel. In actuality Edler took a hard slash at Guentzel's stick blade as the puck bounced off his stick and harmlessly wide right of the net.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Canucks are in a rebuilding year, and are expected to be bottom-dwellers in the league standings by season's end. Now 4-2 to start the season and riding a three-game win streak, the Canucks are defying those expectations early.
The Canucks are a younger team this year, with some young players like the injured Elias Pettersson and game-winning goal scorer Boeser having substantial roles on the team, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin not on the roster for the first time in 17 seasons. Canucks head coach Travis Green has spoken this season about the team needing to find their identity. Games like this are a step in the right direction.
"We're learning how to win some hockey games, and how we have to play to be successful," Green said after his team's win.
Sutter spoke about the team's mindset during this rebuilding season:
"Coming into this year we didn't really know what we were going to be about," Sutter told reporters after the game. "We're finding out here as we go. The expectation from outside was pretty low, and that's perfect for us. We're just coming in and playing without anything to lose right now."
Sutter, now in his fourth season with the Canucks after being traded by the Penguins in July 2015, scored his second goal of the season in the win.
"(Schaller) just started walking behind the net and I was just yelling for him to cycle it to me," Sutter said of the goal. "I kept yelling and yelling and once he circled the net I figured I wasn't going to get it, and he still got it through somehow. It was a pretty nice pass."
Boeser's game-winning overtime goal was his second goal of the year.
The Penguins will see the Canucks again Oct. 27 in the final stop of their upcoming Western Canada trip. -- Taylor Haase
THE INJURIES
• Justin Schultz missed the first of what figures to be at least 50 games after undergoing surgery to repair a broken left leg suffered last Saturday in Montreal.
• Vancouver was without Elias Pettersson (concussion) and Jay Beagle (broken forearm).
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice at noon Wednesday at the Lemieux Sports Complex before chartering to Toronto for Thursday night's game. That will be the first of a four-game road trip that will take the Penguins from Toronto to Edmonton, Calgary, and finally to Vancouver. The Penguins will not play at home again for another 14 days when they will host the Islanders.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Canucks, PPG Paints Arena, Oct. 16, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS