Jubilant Tristan Jarry leads Penguins to shootout victory against Panthers

Tristan Jarry isn’t the most loquacious member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He’s fairly stoic and usually just gets directly to the point when queried on any matter.

But the Penguins’ starting goaltender doesn’t dodge responsibility.

After his squalid performance during the 2021 playoffs, he pledged, “I will be better next year.”

So far through the early stages of the 2021-22 regular season, Jarry has made good on that vow as evidenced by the improvement reflected in his base metrics.

But he has clearly struggled in one area, namely the shootout.

Entering Thursday’s home game against the Florida Panthers, Jarry had lost all three shootouts he has participated in this season while giving up seven goals on 10 shots.

The day prior, Jarry acknowledged a need for immediate improvement.

“I just have to be more assertive and make sure I’m showing my best version of myself in there,” Jarry said Wednesday. “I’ll be the first one to be the happiest when that does happen because it’s been tough.”

By Thursday night, Jarry seemed pretty pleased. At least that’s what the five fist pumps he offered in celebration suggested after he led his team to a hard-fought 3-2 shootout win at PPG Paints Arena.

Jarry allowed only one shot on four attempts while forwards Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter scored on their shots to claim the Penguins’ first shootout victory this season.

“It’s exciting,” Jarry said. “It was obviously something that I wanted to get better at. And I wanted to win. It’s nice that we’ve had so many in a row. We’ve had the opportunity to get points. That’s something where I could have (gotten) better. It was something that I had to improve upon. “

The victory extracted a potentially heavy toll, however. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson appeared to suffer an injury during the first period. After a collision with Panthers forward Owen Tippett inside Florida’s blue line, Pettersson, who was removed from the NHL’s list for covid-19 protocol Thursday afternoon, did not record a shift after the 13:05 mark of the opening frame.

Assistant coach Todd Reirden did not have an update on his status following the game.

The Penguins got on the scoreboard first 13:37 into regulation. Settling the puck at the right point of the offensive zone, defenseman Mike Matheson motioned to the center point then slid a pass to the left half wall for blue line partner Kris Letang. Faking a shot, Letang snuck his way through the left circle to below the goal line the slipped a tricky backhand pass across the front of the crease for forward Teddy Blueger who swiped a forehand shot past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s left skate for his third goal this season. Letang and Matheson had assists.

Things were tied, 1-1, when the Panthers converted a two-on-one rush at 16:55 of the first period. Pushing play through the neutral zone, Panthers forward Anton Lundell surged through a weak check attempt by Penguins forward Brock McGinn then gained the offensive blue line on the right wing. With Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel leaning down, Lundell fed a pass to the left circle for linemate Frank Vatrano who toasted Jarry’s blocker on the near side with a wrister for his third goal. Lundell and forward Sam Reinhart collected assists.

Late in the second period, at the 17:53 mark, the Penguins reclaimed a lead, 2-1. After defenseman John Marino helped snuff out a scoring chance for the Panthers, he banked a pass off the boards to the neutral zone for forward Jason Zucker. From the left wing, Zucker centered a pass to linemate Evan Rodrigues, creating a partial breakaway. Approaching the cage, Rodrigues whipped a wrister past Bobrovsky’s glove for his fourth goal. Assists went to Zucker and Marino.

The Panthers persisted and tied the score again, 2-2, only 2:30 into the third period. Cycling out of the right corner of the Penguins’ zone, Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe fed a forehand pass towards the slot for linemate Aleksander Barkov who sizzled a wrister past Jarry’s glove hand for his ninth goal. Verhaeghe and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar netted assists.

A would-be goal by Panthers forward Anthony Duclair at 15:11 of the third period was wiped out when the Penguins issued a coach’s challenge citing the sequence being offside. Video review confirmed Barkov allowed a puck to clear the Penguins’ blue line a few moments before Duclair put the puck into the cage.

Reirden credited video coach Andy Saucier and assistant video coach Madison Nikkel with identifying the errant puck.

“One hundred percent the video guys,” a beaming Reirden said. “Madison and Andy, I believe, are some of the top guys in the league, without a doubt. That was right away, quickly (messaged) our way to the bench that it was offside. It looked like it, right in front of us. We had a pretty clear visual of it. But you never know. … Tonight, that was a huge call. They got some strong accolades in the locker room from the guys after.”

The Penguins’ penalty killers earned a few pats on the back as well for their effort in the overtime period. After Penguins forward Jake Guentzel ran over Bobrovsky and was assessed a goaltending interference minor at the 3:29 mark, the Penguins had to finish the period by killing a four-on-three sequence.

Forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Brian Boyle, Blueger and McGinn as well as Marino and Ruhwedel limited the Panthers to two shots, each of which Jarry stopped in order to get the game to the shootout.

“It says a lot about our team,” Marino said. “Guys blocking shots. Obviously, (Jarry) is playing unbelievable. He’s been making saves every night for us, giving us a chance. All the credit goes to him.”

Jarry’s credit rating went up a few more notches in the shootout.

After stopping Barkov, he allowed forward Jonathan Huberdeau to slide a backhander through his five hole for Florida’s lone shootout goal. He followed that up with denials of ex-Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist and Lundell to clinch a sorely needed victory for himself and his team.

Jarry lauded coaches and teammates for helping him spruce up in that realm after losing shootouts in the Penguins’ two previous games. He even asked Matheson, a former member of the Panthers, for a scouting report on Florida’s better shooters.

“Just watching video (and teammates) helping do some shootouts in practice and breakaways, I think that helped me a lot and prepared me,” Jarry said. “Every day we did it, I got better. That was something (teammates) did a great job of me, helping me and just making sure we were on top of it. It helped a lot.”

Making 36 saves on 38 shots in regulation and overtime, Jarry’s record improved to 5-2-3.

“I had a really good feeling going into that shootout,” Reirden said. “We spent some more time talking about different ways of improving and getting better. It’s just part of his growth as a goaltender and being involved in those situations. He’s not a guy that’s had 20 shootouts in his career. He hasn’t had very many. Unfortunately, it’s a learning process for him. We’re going through and doing everything we possibly can to give him the tools to have success and really happy to see him get rewarded.”