CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Who was that masked man?
As usual, there were two goalies on the ice for the Penguins' practice Thursday at the Lemieux Sports Complex.
One, was Casey DeSmith. But this “other” goalie — decked in all-white pads and mask and a little smallish by today’s NHL standards — was most certainly not Matt Murray.
Turns out that Murray, fresh off pitching a 24-save shutout a night earlier in the Penguins’ 7-0 win over the Flyers in Game 1 of their first-round series, was given a maintenance day by Mike Sullivan. Apparently, when you haven’t allowed a goal in a franchise-record 206:52 of playoff time, as Murray has, it earns you a well-deserved day off from work.
Still, somebody has to man the other goal during practice.
Naturally, the Penguins turned to Mike Chiasson to fill in on an emergency basis. No, this wasn’t for a “Pros vs. Joes” episode. Nor is Chiasson a random guy off the street like Scott Foster, though he’d probably relish the chance to get into NHL game action.
Chiasson is a goalie development professional at the Lemieux Sports Complex, who has filled in on about a half-dozen occasions in the past. He played junior hockey in the QMJHL with Rimouski, Sidney Crosby’s old team. Like the Penguins captain, Chiasson also hails from Nova Scotia.
The 32-year-old politely declined to be interviewed for this article, he said, out of respect for the Penguins and wanting to keep the focus on the real players in the playoffs.
But Chiassson at least made a good impression on DeSmith, who said he didn't get a chance to talk to Chiasson beforehand or after. But he did admire his backup's work from 180 feet away.
"It’s awesome," said the Penguins No. 2 goalie. "Had to be challenging, I’m sure. I’m not sure what he does usually, but just jumping right out there into an NHL playoff-caliber practice? I can’t imagine doing that. But he looked great. Are you kidding? He was awesome. That’s really impressive."
MORE PENGUINS
• The Penguins have gone in full Belichickian-mode at the Lemieux Sports Complex for the start of the playoffs. All practices are now closed to the public. The large windows in the lobby and the doors leading to the rink of the team's practice facility are covered in large black curtains. Even gaps in some of the curtains have curtains behind them so the public can't even sneak a peak at the practices. — Bradford in Cranberry Township, Pa.
• You know it's playoff time when Vladimir and Natalia Malkin make their pilgrimage from Magnitogorsk, Russia to Pittsburgh. Evgeni's parents have been staples on the center ice scoreboard during TV timeouts for a decade. Also visiting their son Thursday were Troy and Trina Crosby. — Bradford
• While Murray was busy pitching his shutout in Pittsburgh Wednesday, his mentor was doing the same in Las Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 30 shots he saw in a 1-0 win over the Kings to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 series lead and the first postseason win in the expansion team's brief history. While they might no longer be teammates, one has to wonder if they still aren't pushing each other from afar. — Bradford
PIRATES
• The closer formerly known as Felipe Rivero told me he was not concerned about telling the Pirates he intended to legally change his last name to Vázquez, despite the timing of the move potentially causing a few issues, such as merchandise sales, promotional materials, signage at PNC Park and a bobblehead giveaway in September. What Vázquez does regret, though, is having upset fans who purchased jerseys and shirts with his old last name, and he wants to find a way to rectify the problem. "I wish I could do something for them because I know how hard they work to make the money to pay for jerseys," he told me. "I know they're not cheap. I want to do something." — Lance Lysowski in Chicago
• The coaching staff is running out of patience with the middle relievers. It tried positive reinforcement with hope more opportunities would get the most out of those pitchers, but the results aren't coming and it's clear they must now produce or someone else will be brought in to get the job done. — Lysowski
• It's taking Tyler Glasnow only 15 pitches to get warm in the bullpen. That, as much as anything, has shown the Pirates' coaching staff progress. Glasnow thoroughly enjoys the routine of being a reliever, and those who work closely with him insist he'll be a very good piece in this bullpen sooner rather than later. — Lysowski
• Pirates players are enjoying how people around the industry are surprised with their hot start. One veteran laughed when I brought up some of the comments being made by national media personalities. "Those people don't know what goes on in here and the type of guys we have in here," he said. — Lysowski
STEELERS
• I keep seeing people mock-drafting a tight end to the Steelers in later rounds of the upcoming draft. That is highly unlikely to happen. The Steelers feel very comfortable with Vance McDonald taking over as their No. 1. They feel like he had some bad luck on the injury front last season and will be better this year after going through an entire offseason with the team. They would like to see Jesse James continue to improve, particularly as a blocker, to become a solid No. 2. And they're looking forward to seeing what the battle between Xavier Grimble and Jake McGee looks like for No. 3. With a downfield threat such as McDonald on the roster, McGee's superior blocking skills could be a deciding factor. He also consistently made plays against the first-team defense last year. — Dale Lolley
• The closer we get to the draft, the more I get the feeling none of the top four inside linebacker prospects will be available to the Steelers at pick 28. Tremaine Edmunds could go in the top 10 and Roquan Smith, despite some teams reportedly red-flagging him for a shoulder injury, will likely go top 15. Leighton Vander Esch performed too well at the combine to fall out of the top 25, especially when you look at his film. And Rashaan Evans has the flexibility to play inside or out. Evans is the most likely to be the guy who is available. The problem is that Alabama rarely had Evans drop into coverage, using him as an edge rusher on obvious passing downs. The Steelers could still find ways to use Evans, but he's not necessarily the ideal guy for them. — Lolley
• Just because a FOX Sports executive recently said the NFL Color Rush uniforms will not be used for Thursday night games any longer doesn't mean those uniforms won't be used at all. The Steelers' Color Rush uniforms have been popular among fans — as have several others — and Nike, another NFL partner, isn't likely to want to give up on those uniforms after just a couple of seasons. Nor is the NFL. Even if the Color Rush uniforms aren't used on Thursday nights, the league could still figure out a way to use them. — Lolley
PITT
• Pat Narduzzi spoke at length about the leadership on his team after Thursday’s practice, and the first name to come up, as usual, was that of senior tackle Alex Bookser. “Will he be a captain? I don’t know. Our kids vote for the captains,” Narduzzi said, but he made it pretty clear who he’d cast his ballot for if he had a vote. “Alex Bookser has really grown up a lot from where he was three years ago when I got here to where he is today. He’s just a different guy, on and off the field.” Even in the team’s spring game draft Wednesday, Bookser took the reins for much of the Gold Team decision-making, and lest we forget, he also won the arm wrestling match that helped earn his team the first pick. — Matt Grubba
• Speaking of that arm wrestling match, Narduzzi said his team is as healthy as it could be at the end of spring, and that includes himself. In the raucous cheering surrounding the one-armed battle between Bookser and Quintin Wirginis, Narduzzi caught an accidental elbow to the face in the fired-up crowd. Asked about it the next day, the coach laughed it off, saying: “I’m good. (Expletive), I’m from Youngstown, man. You get banged up, you keep going.” — Grubba
• When Pitt fired women’s basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio last week, the name of Duquesne coach Dan Burt was one of the first to be floated as an ideal replacement, including by our own DK in one of my Pitt Show podcasts. But going for a former McConnell-Serio assistant seemed like an unlikely move, and on Thursday, reports came out that Burt was not interested in leaving Duquesne, understandably so. The Dukes had just one senior on this year’s team that reached the third round of the WNIT. — Grubba
PENN STATE
• While I've always heard so much about Trace McSorley's fiery demeanor, I've never seen it quite like I did Wednesday night at practice when the senior absolutely lit into redshirt sophomore tight end Danny Dalton. Dalton was caught from behind and fumbled, and while McSorley clearly didn't realize all the cameras were on him as he quickly found Dalton on the sideline and delivered a few choice words, the spirited exchange speaks volumes of just how much this is McSorley's team now. I've never heard him scream that loud — seriously, the rest of the facility quickly grew quiet — but besides that instance, the quarterback has been very complimentary of Dalton this spring. This team has a glaring need there where Dalton just might be the go-to guy. — Audrey Snyder in State College
• Slot receiver KJ Hamler is the darling of spring ball and rightfully so. He blew past a young defensive back at one point this week and was just gliding for about 20 yards. While McSorley was pressured and couldn't get the ball to him, Hamler's quickness is remarkable and that's why the coaching staff has to find a way to get him on the field this fall. Look for DeAndre Thompkins to start in the slot with Hamler behind him. Should Brandon Polk, who moved out of the slot this spring largely because of Hamler's development, struggle, Thompkins moves back and Hamler takes on the starting role. It's a good problem to have, as this looks like the quickest receiving corps during the James Franklin tenure. — Snyder
• Penn State recruited many highly-touted offensive linemen during Franklin's time here — one can make the argument it's the group hardest hit in the post-sanction era. While they've had remarkable finds like Ryan Bates, Steven Gonzalez and Connor McGovern, they've never had someone quite like CJ Thorpe. Franklin will address the team Friday about Thorpe's nastiness in practice and will urge the rest of them to play like the redshirt freshman who has been plowing people over in the run game. That's telling. This line was criticized for being too nice and therefore too soft last year, but Thorpe is frustrating defensive linemen this spring, helping create a competitiveness that's lacked up front for quite some time. That edge has been present since he enrolled last summer and wouldn't let up when going after the defense as a scout team standout last season. — Snyder
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