Already without starting netminder Tristan Jarry, who suffered a bone fracture in his foot in mid-April, the Penguins will head into tonight’s Game 2 without their second choice. Casey DeSmith left the second OT against the Rangers in Game 1, and appears to be out for at least the rest of the first round with an undisclosed lower body injury. DeSmith is listed day to day by the team, but is expected to play no further part in this series.
That means Louis Domingue, who came in as backup on Tuesday to secure the win in the third OT period, will get his first career playoff start. In other news, Jarry got his boot removed, and could potentially play a part later in the series, though he is yet to return to skating.
Also missing from the Penguins tonight will be winger Rickard Rakell. Rakell was felled in the first period by a check from Ryan Lindgren. Lindgren earned a two-minute roughing penalty, while Rakell – who may have suffered a concussion on the play – had to be helped from the ice. It’s anticipated that Jason Zucker could well slot in to the vacant wing position, coming back from his own injury lay-off.
The Rangers may not have escaped Game 1 wihtout injury, with Ryan Lindgren a game-time decision. Lindgren did not make it through the entire game, missing much of the third period, and then not coming out for the third OT. He also suffered what appeared to be a leg injury in the final game of the season, when he got tangled up with a Capital forward.
Gerard Gallant mentioned there are others that are banged up too, so we may see a couple of changes tonight as a result of these injuries. You have to wonder if Andrew Copp might be one of those. Copp did play the entire game but had been dealing with a lower body injury in the final games of the regular season.  Dryden Hunt would seemingly be the first call-up if the Rangers decide to go to their bench.