Hellberg perfect in relief after Jarry injured in win over Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Magnus Hellberg referred to himself as "just a small part of the team" after the Penguins' 2-0 win over the Ducks here in Anaheim, Calif. on Tuesday.

That's just not true.

For one, Hellberg and the word "small" should never be anywhere near each other. The guy is ginormous at 6 foot 6 (6 foot 8 in skates, he estimates) and 220 pounds. 

As the No. 3 goaltender in the organization, Hellberg's role is limited. Sure. But when he is called upon, his impact is anything but small.

Tristan Jarry got the start Tuesday against the Ducks, and was 21 saves into a shutout bid when an injury forced him to leave the game with 1:45 left in the second period. The Penguins were clinging to a one-goal lead courtesy of a Radim Zohorna first-period tally, and about to enter the final frame against a Ducks team that has put together third-period comebacks at a historic pace this season. John Gibson in net at the other end of the ice was having a strong game himself and would be hard to beat.

Anything short of perfection from Hellberg would have put the game in total jeopardy.

Perfection was what the Penguins got from their big Swedish netminder. Hellberg stopped all 11 shots faced over the next 20-plus minutes to finish the game, with Sidney Crosby's empty net tally sealing the win.

The Ducks pressed hard in the third period, and the Penguins' skaters in front of Hellberg managed to limit the damage. They kept the Ducks from getting a single shot off in that last 1:45 to finish the second period, allowing Hellberg to have that full intermission to get settled and regroup before entering the game for the final frame. The Ducks were held to just 11 shots in the third, only two of which came from the high-danger areas of the ice. 

"I think they played great," Hellberg said afterward of his teammates. "You know, they communicated really well. They let me see the puck. I think we really played a good game. Maybe a little slow start, but then I think we got really good in the second and third. I'm happy with how we played."

When Hellberg was tested, he stood tall:

"(Hellberg) came in, and it's a tough spot to come into," Ryan Graves told me afterward. "You're cold, you're not into the game. We just tried to give up the least amount of scoring chances as possible, just try to lock it down. You don't want to give up too much, just as a courtesy to him. ... He did great, he made some big saves, especially towards the end. They're just kind of throwing things at the net and trying to create off chaos. It's tough, and he did a good job."

The word Mike Sullivan had for Hellberg's performance was "terrific."

“He’s such a great guy, and he works hard," Sullivan added. "He brings so much positive energy to our team. When he comes in like that, makes a couple of timely saves for us, everybody gets pumped up for him. So I know his teammates were excited. We're certainly excited for him. It's great for a guy like that.”

"Excited" is accurate. The team MVP of the game award this season is an old JOFA helmet. Crosby, who played his 1,200th game in San Jose, was given the helmet after the 10-2 win over the Sharks to open the California road trip. That meant that Crosby was given the honor of choosing the recipient after the latest win, and he chose the man who goes by "Chopper," a nickname Hellberg got from his teammates in Ottawa as a natural evolution from the nicknames "Helly" and "Helly-copter."

Neither Hellberg nor Jarry get credit for the shutout in the official stats -- it's not like baseball, where two pitchers can earn a combined no-hitter. If a goaltender doesn't play the full game, he doesn't get the shutout credit. It's a pretty rare occurrence to have two goaltenders to combine for a shutout like this, too. Per Bob Grove, this is only the fifth time in franchise history it's happened, and the first in over a decade. The previous goaltenders to team up for a shutout for the Penguins were Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun (March 26, 2013 vs. Canadiens), Brent Johnson and Fleury (Feb. 2, 2011 vs. Islanders), Ken Wregget and Tom Barrasso (Feb. 8, 1993 vs. Bruins) and Gilles Meloche and Roberto Romano (Jan. 23, 1987 vs. Canucks). This game will just be another weird little footnote in the history books.

Hellberg has been up with the Penguins since Alex Nedeljkovic sustained a lower-body injury during a start against the Stars on Oct. 24. His only other appearance for the Penguins this season came on Oct. 28, when Jarry was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots to the Senators. Hellberg finished the last 34:32 of the game and stopped 15 of 17 shots in a loss. Since then Hellberg has been backing up and practicing with the team, including some extra work with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo and the scratches after morning skates.

"I just tried to be in the right position and don't overwork," Hellberg said. "I know I'm a big guy back there. And I think lately, I've been feeling really good in practice doing some good work with (Chiodo) the goalie coach. I'm just a small part of the team. Sometimes you start the game and sometimes you jump in like this. But I'm just really happy we got the win."

Sullivan didn't have an update on Jarry after the game, and it's not entirely clear what exactly the injury was. Adam Henrique backed into Jarry in the crease pretty hard and caused his head to get knocked back and his mask to be dislodged. Immediately after, a Ryan Strome shot hit Jarry in the mask:

It's hard to tell whether Jarry was cut by the puck or a piece of his mask itself, but he was definitely cut. He had blood coming down from his right eyebrow and past his eye as he skated to the bench, and when I saw him walking around the locker room after the game it looked like he might have gotten some stitches. If Jarry leaving was just a result of that bad cut, that would be good news, and something relatively minor. Bad news would be if there was some sort of head injury or tweak to the neck as a result of that initial blow by Henrique.

The Penguins are set to practice in Los Angeles on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern, and there should hopefully be some clarity then before Thursday's game against the Kings to close out the California road trip. If Jarry is fine, the net would presumably be his on Thursday. If not, the Penguins will have to turn back to Hellberg and Joel Blomqvist would have to make his way out west from Wilkes-Barre to back up for the time being. Nedeljkovic remains on long-term injured reserve and cannot be activated until Nov. 19 at the earliest.

Hellberg is confident in his ability to take over the net if needed.

"I'm playing hockey to play games," he said. "If they tell me to keep playing, I'm up for it. For sure."

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Honda Center:

1. John Gibson, Ducks G
2. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C
3. Reilly Smith, Penguins LW

THE INJURIES

• Goaltender Tristan Jarry left this game in the second period after being hit in the head by a player in the crease and then a shot immediately after. He is still being evaluated.

• Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He is on long-term injured reserve and cannot return until Nov. 19 at the earliest. He has resumed skating.

• Defenseman John Ludvig is out indefinitely with a concussion sustained in his NHL debut. He has not placed on injured reserve, the Penguins don't need the additional roster spot that would come from IR right now. He has resumed skating.

• Defenseman Will Butcher is sidelined with an undisclosed injury sustained at the end of last season. He has resumed skating with a group. He will be put on waivers to be sent down to Wilkes-Barre once healthy. He is on season-opening injured reserve, so his cap hit does not count.

• Forward Raivis Ansons is dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the last month of the AHL season. He has resumed skating with a group. He will also be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton once healthy and is also on season-opening injured reserve.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Drew O'Connor - Lars Eller - Radim Zohorna
Matt Nieto - Noel Acciari - Vinnie Hinostroza

Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - Chad Ruhwedel

And for Greg Cronin's Ducks:

Trevor Zegras - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano - Mason McTavish - Ryan Strome
Alex Killorn - Adam Henrique - Jakob Silfverberg
Ross Johnston - Sam Carrick - Brett Leason

Cam Fowler - Jackson LaCombe
Pavel Mintyukov - Ilya Lyubushkin
Urho Vaakanainen - Radko Gudas

THE MULTIMEDIA

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins are scheduled to practice at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles at 3 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Next game is at 10:38 p.m. Eastern on Thursday against the Kings to wrap up this California road trip.

THE CONTENT

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