TRISTAN JARRY looks through a maze to make a save Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Penguins

Jarry's latest shutout bolsters his case ☕

Dec 7, 2019 • 3:45 am

Tristan Jarry's approach to the 2019-20 season can be distilled to a single sentence.

"My mindset is just to get better every day," he said.

Yeah, well, good luck with that. Let us know when you find a way to improve on perfection.

That will be Jarry's challenge in his next start, because he's stopped everything thrown at him during the past two, including a 33-save effort during the Penguins' 2-0 victory against the Coyotes Friday night at PPG Paints Arena.

"Jarry had a huge night for us," Justin Schultz said.

His second in 48 hours, actually. Jarry had rejected 28 shots during a 3-0 victory Wednesday against the Blues who, aside from winning a Stanley Cup in June and sitting atop the Western Conference today, really haven't accomplished much in 2019.

Both of those victories came at home where, truth be told, Jarry actually isn't unbeatable. He's awfully close to it, though. Not only is he 6-1 at PPG Paints Arena this season, but Jarry has turned aside 188 of the 195 shots he's faced during those seven appearances.

"I love playing here," Jarry said. "It's awesome. The fans have great support all the time. It's fun to go out there every period."

It should be, considering how well he's done in almost all of them.

Mike Sullivan likes to split the starts when the Penguins play on consecutive days, so Matt Murray figures to be in goal when the Penguins visit Detroit Saturday at 7:08 p.m. But while Murray entered the season as the Penguins' undisputed No. 1 goaltender -- and probably still holds down the top spot on their depth chart -- Sullivan acknowledged that Jarry's play this season has forced the coaching staff to reconsider the division of labor for its goaltenders.

He offered no details, but the bottom line is that Jarry has earned more work than Murray's backup -- whether it was him or Casey DeSmith -- was penciled in for as recently as a few weeks ago, let alone in early October.

"He's played extremely well," Sullivan said. "We're trying to make decisions to win games in the short run, but also trying to have the big picture in mind. Tristan, his last handful of starts, we feel as though he's been really good. He's deserving of some of the starts we've given him. That's why we chose to go with him tonight."

Sullivan's rationale was rewarded when Jarry made a number of quality stops against the Coyotes, none better than when he got his left skate on a Clayton Keller rebound during a power play in the third period.

Keller threw the puck at the net from the inner edge of the right circle, but Jarry was able to get his leg out in time to kick it away:

"There was nothing I could really do on the second (shot) but just try to sprawl out," Jarry said. "And luckily, it hit me on the foot."

Yeah, luck had a lot to do with it. Assuming that, by luck, Jarry meant being fortunate enough to have the reflexes and training and instincts to throw out his leg before Keller's shot made it to the net.

That save came a few minutes after Evgeni Malkin broke a 0-0 tie by poking a loose puck between the legs of Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta after a Jake Guentzel shot from the top of the left circle caromed off the backboards and ended up in front of the Arizona net:

It was the 398th goal of Malkin's career, and the 70th that became a game-winner.

"He's a difference-maker," Sullivan said. "He has the ability to change outcomes."

Malkin ignited the scoring sequence with a clean faceoff win. That was something of a rarity for the Penguins in this game, as they controlled just 19 of 51 draws, a meager success rate of 37 percent.

And that wasn't their only shortcoming.

They had a five-on-three power play for one minute, 49 seconds early in the second period, but generated just three shots on goal and only one significant scoring chance, by Bryan Rust from close range.

Such failings generally cost a team a point or two, but can be masked when you have a goaltender who leads the league in both goals-against average (1.81) and save percentage (.943) among goalies who have played in three or more games.

Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet is familiar with Jarry from his days on Sullivan's staff, but said he has matured from the days when he was prone to being overly active around the crease.

"He's a lot quieter in the net," Tocchet said.

Consequently, so are opposing offenses, as all the elements of Jarry's game, from positioning to rebound control, have converged to lift it to a level not previously reached when he's played at this level.

"He's playing extremely well right now," Sullivan said. "I'm sure his confidence is high because, usually, success breeds confidence."

It clearly has with Jarry, and if current trends continue, it could eventually lead to a genuine competition to be the Penguins' go-to goalie, a position to which Murray held exclusive rights when this season began.

At the very least, Jarry has positioned himself to be a lot busier than anyone could have anticipated a couple of months ago.

"Whenever I'm called upon," he said, "I'll try to be ready for it."

Sounds like a pretty good approach.