The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ organizational history has a plethora of great players, and we’ve decided to go through the best Penguins’ players to wear each jersey number. Today, we continue the list by naming the best #70 in Penguins’ history.
There is only one player in franchise history to have worn #70 for the Penguins, and although this one is a stretch – to say the least – he will forever be famous for a particular food item he ate during an important game.
The best and only #70 in Penguins’ history is goaltender Louis Domingue.
Domingue became somewhat of a one-hit wonder in Pittsburgh. He played only two regular season games for the Penguins in 2022, but that’s not what he’s known for.
During Game 1 of Pittsburgh’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers in 2022, the Penguins were already without starting goaltender Tristan Jarry. Backup Casey DeSmith got Pittsburgh to double-overtime in a crazy game.
However, DeSmith had to unexpectedly depart due to injury during the second overtime. As a result, the Penguins’ third goaltender – Domingue – had to come in cold.
The result? He turned in a 17-save effort and led the Penguins to victory in triple-overtime. And he may have had a little bit of help from a meal during intermission:
Yes, “spicy pork and broccoli” became such a fixture that PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh started selling it during that playoff series because of Domingue.
The Nakama concession stand at PPG Paints Arena is now selling spicy pork and broccoli with your choice of lo mein or fried rice because of Louis Domingue. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/loUTmALN6i
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) May 7, 2022
Although Domingue and the Penguins flamed out and lost the series in seven games after squandering a 3-1 series lead – Domingue struggled in subsequent games and started every game aside from Game 7, which Jarry started on a broken foot – “spicy pork and broccoli”, for better or for worse, is something that won’t soon be forgotten in Pittsburgh.
In the 2022 playoffs, Domingue went 3-3 with a 3.65 goals-against average (GAA) and an .898 save percentage (SV%). In 143 games played throughout the course of his NHL career, he has a 3.02 GAA and a .905 SV%.
