Couldn't be clearer now: It's Casey's net

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- If Casey DeSmith isn't staying in the Penguins' net Tuesday night in Newark, then these guys are getting great at disguising this sort of thing.

For one, it was Matt Murray who lingered on the rink long after practice Monday afternoon at the Lemieux Sports Complex, while DeSmith came off with all the regulars.

For another, although Mike Sullivan wouldn't name a starter to face the Devils, he did answer a question about how Murray's handling the current situation: "I think it'll serve him very well. Pro sports is a hard business. It's a hard game. Every player goes through ups and downs, and Matt is no different than any other player who's come before him or who will come after him. And it's about how you handle those ebbs and flows through the course of your career that helps you to have success. And I think Matt's mental toughness and the experiences he's gone through, he can certainly draw on and get to where we all know he's capable of being."

Sullivan then referenced Murray's extra on-ice time with Mike Buckley, which continued after this session: "Right now, he's got an opportunity to spend some time with Buck and work on some of the aspects of his game that he can improve. He can build his confidence."

Sullivan then appeared to catch himself a bit: "This by no means diminishes our faith and our trust in Matt Murray. We know he's a real good goalie. He's an accomplished goalie. I think sometimes we forget how young he is because he's as accomplished as he is. We're going to work with Matt, help him through this process, and it's no different than any other player."

OK, so he isn't playing Tuesday.

Not that it's some stunning surprise, given that DeSmith's fresh off a 39-save shutout Saturday night against the Coyotes, and that the coaching staff has genuinely come to respect what he's brought to his six starts, not least of which are a 3-1-2 record, a 1.65 goals-against average, a .948 save percentage and two shutouts.

Check out this portion of the Penguins' official pregame infographic for Tuesday:

That kind of stands on its own.

Murray swept through the locker room far too quickly to be interviewed, but DeSmith casually held court for more than 15 minutes, beaming throughout.

On his GAA and save percentage both ranking third in the NHL: "I definitely take pride in my numbers. That's a very good way of keeping track of how you're playing, the success you're having. But obviously, it's a team game. Anything my numbers say, that's a credit to the team, too."

On the opportunity he's getting: "As the backup, that's my job, just to show up when I get the chance and I think, so far, I've given the team a chance to win when I've played. I take pride in that, and I'm happy with my performance so far. No matter how many starts I get this year, I hope that trend continues."

On whether getting consecutive starts builds confidence: "Yeah, I think so. You can build off your past starts and, if they're close together, it's a little easier to gain that traction."

OK, so he's starting. Maybe for a while.

• Sullivan's episode of power-play weirdness appears to be over. The standard top unit was reunited for this 50-minute practice , with Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist up front, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang on the points. The No. 2 unit had Dominik Simon, Jake Guentzel and Zach Aston-Reese up front, Olli Maatta and Jack Johnson on the points.

Overall, the power play's been shut out in five of the past seven games.

"Sometimes when you're struggling, you kind of force things and end up making more mistakes," Crosby said. "We've got a pretty experienced group. We just need to focus on what they give us."

Of Sullivan splitting up the top unit a couple games ago, Crosby added, "Usually, it's just a message to get back to work. It's a privilege to play on the power play. It's not something that's just given to you. Our group, we've been together a long time, and I think it's just the coach giving the message that, if you want to be together, you've got to work."

• Here are the basic lines and pairings shown:

Simon--Crosby--Rust

Hagelin--Malkin--Hornqvist

Guentzel--Sheahan--Kessel

Wilson--Cullen--Aston-Reese

Johnson--Letang

Dumoulin--Ruhwedel

Maatta--Oleksiak

Daniel Sprong and Juuso Riikola worked through the bottom combos and, thus, would appear to be odd men out for Tuesday. That also would put Jamie Oleksiak back into the lineup after he was a surprising healthy scratch against the Coyotes.

• Derick Brassard again skated in his own before practice, and he’s making ‘significant progress,’ per Sullivan in his most upbeat description yet. The next step, the coach at it, is for Brassard to join the team. No target date was given for that.

• I asked Sullivan if there's any lesson the Penguins could cull from their previous meeting with the Devils, that 5-1 debacle a week ago at PPG Paints Arena:

• I'll have much more in an all-hockey Grind going up at midnight. Matt Sunday and I will be traveling to New Jersey today, and we'll have your coverage from there all day and night Tuesday.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY