Jarry bails out Penguins amid 'sloppiest period,' finishes with 39 saves

The Senators made things interesting in the third period of Thursday's game at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins opened the third period with a four-goal lead, which saw shrink to one after the Senators clawed back with three third-period goals. It was Jake Guentzel's empty-netter in the final minute of play that ultimately put Ottawa's comeback attempt out of reach, securing the Penguins' 6-4 win.

Looking back at the first period, this game had the potential to get seriously out of hand, to the Penguins' detriment.

The difference-maker was Tristan Jarry, who held down the fort until the Penguins were able to tighten up defensively in the second period. 

The Penguins spent much of the first 20 minutes in their own end, and the Senators dominated the chances in that period as a result.

The Senators attempted 32 shots through the first period, while the Penguins attempted 21. The Senators recorded 22 shots on goal to the Penguins' 12.

Despite the disparity in shots and shot attempts, the Penguins clung to a 3-1 lead after the first period.

"You know, I thought that might have been our sloppiest period, believe it or not," Mike Sullivan said. "(Jarry) made some big saves in the first. I mean, he's done that for us consistently all year."

Jarry's biggest save in the latter two periods of the game was perhaps his penalty shot save on Alex Formenton in the third period, when the Senators trailed by two goals. Jarry made it look easy:

"We obviously gave them some pretty good quality chances, with some breakaways and obviously the penalty shot," Bryan Rust said. "But Jarry was huge, and it's always nice when your goalie can make big saves like that."

The Penguins were outshot 43-34 in the game, the third time in their past four games in which they've allowed 40 or more shots. Their goaltenders haven't exactly gotten much support as of late.

"I think our net-front especially has been an issue," Mike Matheson said of this recent stretch. "I think we've been giving up a lot in the slot and around our net. I think as defensemen, that's your No. 1 job is to be hard in front of your net, hard to play against."

That's a trend that the Penguins would like to reverse moving forward. But on nights like tonight, they have an All-Star goaltender to fall back on.

"He's been rock-solid all season long," Matheson said. "So we're kind of almost used to it at this point. He definitely doesn't get enough credit for how good he is every night."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Dominik Simon quietly had an exceptional game in the Penguins' win in Las Vegas, though most of the good that he did in that game won't show up on any scoresheet. His teammates took notice in that game, and rewarded him with the "Bold Penguin" postgame helmet. Simon followed up that performance in Thursday's win with something that did show up on the scoresheet: His first goal since the season opener:

"An amazing feeling," Simon said of these past two games. "Starting with getting the helmet from them, that's just really cool. Then getting getting the goal definitely feels really good. It was a while."

• Drake Batherson tied the game midway through the first,  picking up his own rebound attempt and putting it past Jarry.

• Evgeni Malkin made it a 2-1 game with his third goal of the season just over a minute later. Kasperi Kapanen won the faceoff after Malkin was tossed from the circle, and the two teamed up with Matheson for the goal from Malkin:

• It initially looked like Malkin got another goal on the next power play, but the goal was called back because Kris Letang was about a foot offside. Even though the goal came back, the Senators chose that moment to make a change in goal, pulling Anton Forsberg and putting in Filip Gustavsson, the former Penguins goaltending prospect sent to Ottawa in the Derick Brassard trade.

• Matheson made it 3-1 shortly after, poking in a rebound after this sick between-the-legs attempt from Brock McGinn:

• Sidney Crosby's backhand shot on the power play made it 4-1 midway through the second period. It was his seventh goal of the year:

Letang's secondary assist extended his point streak to nine games, setting a new career high.

• Matheson extended the lead with his second goal of the game and fifth of the season:

• Tim Stutzle got one back for the Senators just 1:45 into the third period, burying another rebound attempt.

• Josh Norris scored twice -- once at 3:33, then again at 8:02 -- to pull the Senators to within one goal.

• Guentzel's empty-net goal put the game away. It was his 21st goal of the year.

• Letang blocked nine shots in the game, a new single-game career high. His previous single-game high was eight, a mark achieved just once, on Jan. 9 2010. The nine blocked shots tie Brooks Orpik for the single-game record for a player in Penguins franchise history. Orpik did it once, on Jan. 21, 2013. It's an impressive stat, though in order for it to be possible the Penguins had to be in their own end way too much.

• Brian Dumoulin led in hits with six, his highest hit total of the season. The six-hit total ties his previous career high. He's recorded six hits five times before, four times in the regular season and once in the postseason.

• There was a ton of chippiness in this game, as Dejan wrote about in his story. Brian Boyle got in a fight with Auston Watson in the first period after Boyle flattened another Senators player with a hit in the neutral zone:

John Marino fought Brady Tkachuk of all people in the third period, not the easiest choice of opponents for Marino's first career fight:

Marino's teammates admired the courage, at least. Simon chose Marino as the recipient of the Bold Penguin helmet, which doesn't come close to fitting his head:

• The Penguins are now 20-3 this season when scoring first, and 14-1-1 when leading after the first period.

• Matt Murray returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since he was traded to Ottawa in October 2020, but he didn't dress due to a non-COVID illness. The Penguins still recognized Murray with a tribute video, and he seemed a little emotional from his spot in the press box:

• Casey DeSmith, Zach Aston-Reese and Danton Heinen were all activated from the COVID list before the game. DeSmith dressed as backup, Heinen skated on the second line, and Aston-Reese didn't play.

• Jason Zucker was put on injured reserve prior to the game. Sullivan said that Zucker is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the same nagging lower-body injury that kept him out for a month prior to his one-game return in Vegas. Such a tough turn of events for Zucker, who had a strong two-goal game in Vegas.

• Louis Domingue was also put on injured reserve prior to the game after he was felled by a Boyle shot to the right foot in the morning skate. Sullivan didn't have an idea yet of a timeline for Domingue's injury. I saw Domingue outside the locker room before the game and he was on crutches.

Domingue's had some of the worst luck this season. He was injured somehow in camp and missed the first few weeks of the season. He was injured in practice in November, caught COVID while rehabbing the injury, and was out a full month total. He returns to Wilkes-Barre's lineup, plays one game then earns the call to Pittsburgh, finally getting his shot in San Jose, putting together a solid 40-save performance. He seemed to be in prime position to compete with DeSmith for the backup job, and then suffers a fluke injury in an optional morning skate. 

• Phil Bourque wasn't on the radio broadcast and won't be on Friday's broadcast either due to possible COVID exposure. He's tested negative, but is just choosing to be cautious. Colby Armstrong joined Josh Getzoff in the booth in Bourque's place.

• It was 70s Night at the arena, which ironically was the last time the Penguins had a healthy roster (I think). The pregame intro video included a shot of one of the two real penguin (as in the actual animal) mascots the team had in the franchise's early days. The first one, Pete, died in pneumonia in 1968, believed to be due to improper living conditions at the arena. The Pittsburgh Zoo loaned the team a replacement penguin, named Re-Pete, who served into the early 70s.

• Ottawa's Stutzle acquired some candy from a fan before the game:

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Mike Matheson, Penguins
2. Josh Norris, Senators
3. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• Forward Drew O'Connor was put on LTIR retroactive to Jan. 15. He's week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

• Forward Jason Zucker was put on IR on Thursday and is considered week-to-week. It's the same nagging lower-body injury that sidelined him before his return in Vegas.

• Goaltender Louis Domingue was put on IR after he was struck in the foot by a puck in Thursday's morning skate. Sullivan did not have an idea of a timeframe for Domingue as of Thursday night. I saw Domingue using crutches prior to the game.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Evgeni Malkin - Kasperi Kapanen
Dominik Simon - Jeff Carter - Evan Rodrigues
Brian Boyle - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - John Marino
Mike Matheson - Chad Ruhwedel

And for D.J. Smith's Senators:

Brady Tkachuk - Josh Norris - Drake Batherson
Alex Formenton - Tim Stutzle - Zach Sanford
Nick Paul - Dylan Gambrell - Austin Watson
Clark Bishop - Chris Tierney - Adam Gaudette

Thomas Chabot - Jacob Bernard-Docker
Nick Holden - Artem Zub
Erik Brannstrom - Josh Brown

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins will play in Columbus at 7 p.m. on Friday. Because of the back-to-backs, there will be no morning skate. Sullivan will speak at 5 p.m. instead.

THE CONTENT

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