Penguins' Casey DeSmith, Rickard Rakell 'day-to-day' ahead of Game 2 at Rangers

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night when star forward Evgeni Malkin scored a walkoff goal in triple overtime of what became the most thrilling contest, to date, of the postseason tournament. 

Pittsburgh endured multiple losses at Madison Square Garden, though, as key forward Rickard Rakell and current starting goaltender Casey DeSmith both prematurely left the matchup with injuries. Neither appears all that close to returning to the lineup as of Wednesday. 

Per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, both Rakell and DeSmith are considered "day-to-day" heading into Thursday's Game 2 in New York.

Rakell seemed to suffer a head injury when he was hit by Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren late in the first period of Tuesday's contest and didn't return. He initially joined the Penguins from the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline and recorded four goals and nine assists in 19 games with Pittsburgh. 

DeSmith, meanwhile, left Tuesday's encounter with an undisclosed injury during the second overtime period and was replaced by sudden Pittsburgh hero Louis Domingue. Domingue started just two NHL regular-season games in 2021-22 but stopped all 17 shots he saw in overtime and may be on track to be in net for at least Game 2. 

Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh's standard first-choice goalie, hasn't played since the middle of April due to a reported right foot issue and is still rehabbing. It's unknown if he'll be available at any point during the series against New York. 

Game 3 between the clubs will be at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night.