LAS VEGAS -- Tristan Jarry thinks that it feels a little different being at All-Star weekend this year than it did in 2020.
"I feel more excited this time around," Jarry told me at All-Star media day here in Vegas on Friday. "I wasn't one of the players that has to fill in, I was chosen right off of the bat. It's exciting that I was picked that way, it's pretty cool."
Jarry was selected to play in the All-Star Game in 2020 in St. Louis, but not as one of the players on the initial rosters. Rather, he served as a replacement for Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who was injured at the time and had to withdraw from participating.
This year, there's no denying that he deserved the spot he earned on the Metropolitan Division roster.
Heading into the All-Star break, Jarry's 37 appearances in games this season are the second-most of any goaltender in the league, trailing just Juuse Saros' 38 games. He's tied for third in both wins (23) and shutouts (3). His .923 save percentage ranks seventh and his 2.21 goals-against average ranks fifth among goaltenders with at least 10 games played, and are both currently the best marks of his career.
It's quite the bounce-back year following Jarry's disappointing playoff performance in the Penguins' first-round loss to the Islanders last season. Jarry played all six games that series and recorded an .888 save percentage. His GSAx (goals saved above expected) was -7.92, meaning he allowed about eight more goals than he should have in the series. It was the worst result of any goaltender in the postseason since 2014, when Ilya Bryzgalov saved -8.3 goals above expected for the Wild.
Ron Hextall expressed his confidence in Jarry's ability to rebound in the offseason.
"I feel strongly that (Jarry) is going to bounce back and be a very good goaltender for us throughout the entire year," Hextall said.
Just past the midway point of the season, Hextall's been proven right to keep his confidence in Jarry.
Jarry credits a few individuals with helping him find this level of success for his second All-Star season.
Jarry said that following the playoff loss, he received some helpful support and words of encouragement from other goaltenders around the league, including former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury.
"He kind of went through the same thing early in his career," Jarry said. "To know that you have someone like that who went through something similar and see where is now, it's cool to see. When you can share an experience like that with someone of that stature, I think that's something that really stuck out to me.
The Penguins fired goaltending coach Mike Buckley in August and replaced him with Andy Chiodo, who had previously served as the team's goaltending development coach and had worked with Jarry in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Hextall pointed to Chiodo's focus on "the mental side of the game" after making the move, and several times this season Jarry has credited Chiodo's approach to the mental game as a major factor contributing toward his success this season.
I asked Jarry on Friday what exactly sets Chiodo apart from other goaltending coaches in that area of the game.
"Just the way he carries himself," Jarry said. "He's a funny guy. He's always happy, he's always smiling. He's very positive. Just the message that he brings Casey (DeSmith) and I, it's always positive. That's something you can really get behind. He's someone that if you have a bad day or a bad practice, he's always there to pick you up. I think that's something that really helped us here. It helped me starting to have a good season just to stay so positive. The things we were working on, he was always saying good things. The way he teaches is the same way. So I think I was able to feel good about my game. For him to do that, it really helped."
Jarry also called his work with the Penguins' strength and conditioning staff "a huge thing" for him
"There's a lot of moving parts, and sometimes it's not too natural what happens," he said of his movements as a goaltender. "Just being able to work with (the strength and conditioning coaches) and strengthen parts of your body that you might not use as much, I think they do a great job at keeping me up to pace."
Asked if he ever thinks about what shape his hips are going to be in when he's 50 years old, Jarry broke into a smile and said, "I try not to."
Jarry's teammates have enjoyed seeing that work and mental focus pay off for him this year. Fellow All-Star Jake Guentzel called Jarry's season "phenomenal."
"He's a goalie we count on a lot," Guentzel told me Friday. "He keeps us in a lot of games, wins us a lot of games. For us to have him back there, the confidence we have in him, we have a goalie that can steal a lot of games for us. It's been fun to see how hard he works."
