Penguins to start Tristan Jarry against Islanders

The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Thursday’s home game against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.

This will be Jarry’s third consecutive start. Over his past two games, each against the Washington Capitals – a 6-3 win on Sunday and a 3-1 loss Tuesday – Jarry has stopped 67 of 73 shots, equating to a save percentage of .918.

Considering his struggles in the early part of the season, Jarry’s play against the Capitals has been viewed as progress.

“We think he’s really trending in the right direction here,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “We know he’s a very capable goalie. We’re encouraged by the progress he’s made over the last couple of games. He’s going to get the start tonight and we’re certainly encouraged by how he’s tracking. Hopefully, he’ll get a boost of confidence from those two games that he played here and he can continue to build on his game.”

Jarry has appeared in nine games this season and has a 3-5-1 record along with a 3.74 goals against average and .875 save percentage.

Notes:

• According to Sullivan, injured defenseman Juuso Riikola skated with the team’s taxi squad. Currently on long-term injured reserve, Riikola has missed the past 10 games because of an undisclosed injury.

• Injured forwards Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues and Brian Dumoulin skated separately in the morning. Dumoulin and Rodrigues are on long-term injured reserve while McCann is on regular injured reserve. The nature of their ailments remains undisclosed.

• The Islanders are expected to start goaltender Semyon Varlamov. In 11 games this season, Varlamov has a 7-2-2 record along with a 1.89 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and a league-leading three shutouts.

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