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Wilkes-Barre woman pleads guilty to felony in crash that injured her child

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Good Shepherd students win coloring contest

<p>It hasn&#8217;t taken Casey DeSmith long to grow fond of the Giant Center.</p><p>The rookie netminder has only made two starts - one in the regular season and the other in Wednesday&#8217;s Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Finals in Hershey&#8217;s building. He added a period of mop-up duty for his first AHL appearance.</p><p>But his numbers show why DeSmith likes the place.</p><p>In the regular season and playoffs combined, DeSmith has only allowed one goal against the Bears, stopping 61 of 62 shots.</p><p>&#8220;I like playing in their barn. I&#8217;ve had good success there and hopefully I can keep it going,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The Giant Center is one of the larger and nicer arenas in the AHL and sellouts are routine. DeSmith compared it to an NHL arena and said it&#8217;s a pleasure to play there. But what motivates DeSmith when he takes the Giant Center ice isn&#8217;t necessarily the scenery.</p><p>It&#8217;s the Hershey fans. Playing in front of a large crowd rooting against you actually serves as an incentive for DeSmith.</p><p>&#8220;I know the fans don&#8217;t like us very much, but that&#8217;s more fun,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They get excited and when you make a big save it definitely turns the momentum in your favor.</p><p>&#8220;It only takes one save to change the way the game goes and on the ice we definitely feel it. It&#8217;s pretty tangible.&#8221;</p><p>DeSmith&#8217;s play during the postseason has been pretty tangible as well. He&#8217;s 4-0, has a goals against average of 1.93 and a .944 save percentage. In the series-clinching Game 3 double-overtime win in Providence, DeSmith made 59 saves for a franchise playoff record.</p><p>In Wednesday&#8217;s 4-0 win in Hershey, DeSmith made 33 saves, including some stops at point-blank range.</p><p>It&#8217;s an incredible run for a player who was buried in the depth chart to start the season, spent most of it as a backup in Wheeling but thrived when he inherited the starting job in the AHL.</p><p>And while DeSmith is still early into his first pro playoff experience, he said he&#8217;s already learning a lesson.</p><p>&#8220;You have to be ready for every shot. Guys are so good at getting the puck on net from everywhere,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My goal going in is to not give up any soft goals and let the momentum change against us.&#8221;</p><p>NOTES</p><p>- Pittsburgh reassigned D Steve Oleksy to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Casey DeSmith goes down to make a save against the Bruins Noel Accari in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The Penguins rookie netminder is 4-0 in the postseason. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pensbruins04.jpg</photo0><caption0>Casey DeSmith goes down to make a save against the Bruins Noel Accari in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The Penguins rookie netminder is 4-0 in the postseason. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WBS-Penguins-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WBS-Penguins-2.jpg</photo1><caption1></caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Up next&#8230;</strong></p><p><strong>Game 2 of the Atlantic Division Finals</strong></p><p><em>(Penguins lead series, 1-0)</em></p><p>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (4-0) at Hershey Bears (3-3)</p><p>Friday, 7:05 p.m. at the Giant Center in Hershey</p><p>Listen live on 103.1FM-WILK</p><p><strong>Players to watch:</strong></p><p>Hershey - Chris Bourque has one goal in six playoff games. That&#8217;s not going to last.</p><p>Penguins - Daniel Sprong has a pair of two-goal games in the postseason and isn&#8217;t slowing down.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Casey DeSmith stealing the goaltending job for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins