PITTSBURGH - Do the Pittsburgh Penguins have another third string goalie folk hero on their hands? It’s hard to say after just one game, but Dustin Tokarski impressed in relief.
The Vancouver Canucks looked like they were going to make it a tough homecoming for the Penguins when they put three of their first seven shots past Casey DeSmith.
Mike Sullivan had seen enough and made a goalie change just seven minutes into the contest.
Tokarski stepped between the pipes and that was all she wrote for the Canucks as not only did the third string goalie make huge saves, the Penguins defense stepped up in front of him.
“Good nerves, it was fun to get in the game and help out,” Tokarski said. “When you get thrown in, you got to go in and play and trust your instincts and do the best you can.”
Tokarski did more than help as he came up victorious in his Penguins debut, stopping 18 of 19 shots from the Canucks.
Some of those saves, though, came in huge moments including one when the Penguins were on the power play and a breakaway opened up for Canucks top scorer Elias Pettersson.
Tokarski made a great save on Pettersson and the Penguins were able to return the favor with a huge power play goal just seconds later.
The power play goal from Rickard Rakell turned out to be the game winner and it’s safe to give Tokarski a ghost assist on the play.
Ty Smith said that he owes Tokarski a big one after that save and for letting the Penguins stay in the game.
“That was nuts honestly,” Smith said. “He made big save after big save. We gave up a few chances when we were on the power play there. I think I owe him one.”
Later in the final frame, a scrum around the net left Tokarski without a stick or catching glove, but that didn’t stop him from making the blocker save.
“I don’t know what happened there, I was scrambling,” Tokarski said. “The glove fell off. I get one shot that hit me right side blocker. I was lucky there.”
As a backup goalie, you’re expected to ready to go in at any given moment and Penguins fans have become familiar with a third string goalie.
Tokarski stole the show for the Penguins and arguably earned a start over DeSmith in their next contest.
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