Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry could return to lineup against Senators

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry is expected to start Friday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators at PPG Paints Arena.

Following Friday’s morning skate, Jarry was the first goaltender off the ice, typically an indication of which goaltender would start. Officially, coach Mike Sullivan labeled Jarry as a “game-time decision.”

Jarry has been sidelined since suffering a suspected right leg injury during a 2-1 road loss to the Boston Bruins during an outdoor game at Fenway Park on Jan. 2.

Currently designated to injured reserve, Jarry has missed the past seven games due to the ailment. During that time, the Penguins were 3-3-1.

Following a practice session in Cranberry on Tuesday, Jarry indicated the nature of his injury required a complete recovery before returning to play.

“It’s good to be able to manage that and be able to come back 100%,” Jarry said. “Playing anything less than that, I don’t think benefits the team. It’s something that you want to go out and be 100% because it’s a tough league and you want to win every night.”

In 25 games this season, Jarry has a 15-5-4 record, a 2.75 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and one shutout.

Notes:

• Sullivan also labeled defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling as “game-time” decisions. Both players have been working their way back from injuries.

Petry, currently designated to long-term injured reserved due to a suspected left arm injury he suffered on Dec. 10, has missed the past 16 games due to the ailment.

During Friday’s morning skate, Petry primarily worked as a reserve with regard to five-on-five line and pair rushes but worked the point on the top power-play unit.

In 28 games this season, Petry has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) while averaging 22:20 of ice time per contest.

As for Poehling, he is designated to regular injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment that has sidelined him for 11 of the past 12 games.

During Friday’s morning skate, Poehling did not participate in line rushes.

Appearing in 31 games this season, Poehling has eight points (four goals, four assists) while clocking an average of 11:08 of ice time per contest.

• Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen will be sidelined on a “week-to-week” basis due to an undisclosed injury according to Sullivan. The specific nature or severity of his ailment was not disclosed.

During Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime road loss to the Senators, Kapanen did not log a shift for the final 5:45 of regulation.

In 35 games this season, Kapanen has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) and an average of 11:45 of ice time per contest.

• Sullivan ruled out defensemen Kris Letang, Jan Rutta and forward Josh Archibald for Friday’s game due to undisclosed injuries.

• If any combination of Jarry, Petry and Poehling does indeed return to the lineup, the Penguins would need to make some kind of corresponding transactions in order to be compliant with the NHL’s roster limit of 23 active players.

• In Petry’s case, since he is on to long-term injured reserve — a designation that temporarily relieves his salary cap hit of $6.25 million — the Penguins would need to find a way to become compliant with the NHL’s salary cap ceiling of $82.5 million.

Designating Letang to long-term injured reserve could help with the salary cap figure. The six-time All-Star defenseman has a salary cap hit of $6.1 million.

Players on long-term injured reserve must be sidelined for a combination of 10 games and 24 days on the NHL calendar. So far, Letang has been sidelined for nine games and 23 days.

• With regard to the roster, a reserve such as a goaltender Dustin Tokarski could be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or the likes of Kapanen or Rutta could be placed on injured reserve.

Rutta has missed the past two games due to an undisclosed injury and was placed on injured reserve Friday afternoon.

• Archibald and Letang each participated in the morning skate in non-contact capacities. Both players, each of whom are currently designated to regular injured reserve, worked out on the ice prior to the morning skate as well.

Kapanen and Rutta were not present.

• The Penguins’ lines and pairs at Monday’s morning skate were:

59 Jake Guentzel – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust

16 Jason Zucker – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 67 Rickard Rakell

10 Drew O’Connor – 53 Teddy Blueger – 77 Jeff Carter

23 Brock McGinn – 45 Jonathan Gruden – 43 Danton Heinen

8 Brian Dumoulin – 42 Ty Smith

28 Marcus Pettersson – 52 Mark Friedman

73 P.O Joseph – 2 Chad Ruhwedel

• The top power-play unit included Crosby, Guentzel, Malkin, Petry and Rakell. The second unit involved Carter, Heinen, Rust, Smith and Zucker.

• Joseph is expected to play his brother, Senators forward Mathieu Joseph, for the first time in their NHL careers.

That occasion would have happened during Wednesday’s game at Canadian Tire Centre, but Mathieu Joseph was scratched as a disciplinary measure for violating an unspecified team rule.

• The Senators are expected to start goaltender Cam Talbot. He was in net for Wednesday’s contest and made 15 saves on 19 shots in that victory.

This season, Talbot has appeared in 26 games and has an 11-12-1 record, a 2.91 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout.

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