Penguins to start goaltender Tristan Jarry against Islanders
The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Saturday’s road game against the New York Islanders.
In six games this season, Jarry has a 2-3-1 record, a 3.92 goals-against average and an .859 save percentage.
He has served as the backup to Casey DeSmith for the Penguins’ last two games.
Notes:
• Coach Mike Sullivan indicated forward Zach Aston-Reese will not make his season debut as he still recovers from offseason surgery on his left shoulder. Aston-Reese has been a full participant in practice the past two days.
• According to Sullivan, defensemen Kris Letang, John Marino and Mike Matheson are all available and will be “game-time decisions.”
Letang missed Monday’s 3-1 road loss to the New York Rangers because of an undisclosed injury, and Matheson has been sidelined the past eight games with an undisclosed ailment. Marino spent two days on the NHL’s list for absences related to the league’s covid-19 protocol before being removed from it Friday.
Matheson was activated from injured reserve Saturday morning.
• With Letang sidelined during Monday’s game, forward Bryan Rust served as an alternate captain for the first time in his career.
The designation carried profound meaning for Rust.
“Obviously, it felt pretty cool,” Rust said via video conference Thursday. “Honestly, it feels like yesterday I was just getting called up as a young guy. After four, five, six years, however many years it’s been, to be considered a leader on this team and a veteran on this team, a voice in the locker room, I think it’s definitely nice.”
The Penguins maintain a “depth chart” of sorts for players to serve as an alternate captain in the event of injuries. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, currently sidelined because of an undisclosed injury, is believed to be first in line to serve as an alternate captain should captain Sidney Crosby or alternate captains Letang and Malkin be unavailable.
With Letang and Dumoulin each sidelined Monday, Rust wore an “A” on his jersey.
“I know what the meaning of a letter on a player’s sweater means,” Sullivan said. “That’s deeply embedded in the culture of hockey. I know how much respect players have for that honor and that privilege. We think, as a coaching staff, that (Rust) was deserving of that privilege the other night based on the injuries. That’s why we put the ‘A’ on his sweater. (Rust) has emerged as a real important players for our team. He’s emerged as a strong voice of leadership in the dressing room. I know his teammates and certainly his coaching staff have a lot of respect for what (Rust) brings to this team. So, we felt, as a coaching staff, that he was deserving of that privilege.”
• The Islanders are scheduled to start goaltender Semyon Varlamov. In six games this season, he has a 3-2-1 record, a 2.00 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and a league-leading two shutouts. Varlamov is in line to play in his 500th career game.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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