Tristan Jarry has done plenty to help Penguins this season. His skaters need to help him against the Oilers

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry has been excellent lately. In his last seven starts, Jarry has allowed two goals only once and one goal three times and has posted three shutouts. Five of those starts have resulted in victories.

But the team would be best served to lean on him a little less in their next game.

The Penguins face the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday. They currently have 30 points. That’s the second-highest total in the Western Conference, trailing only the Pacific Division rival Calgary Flames (31 points).

That’s the team who just beat Jarry and the Penguins 2-1 in a seven-round shootout Monday night. A team that uncorked 71 shot attempts (32 on goal) at Jarry while the Penguins only managed 33 attempts.

For as good as the Flames may be — ninth in the NHL in goals per game at 3.23 — the Oilers can pump the puck by opposing goalies at an even more alarming rate and with less volume. Their 3.75 goals-per-game pace trails only the Colorado Avalanche (4.00). The Oilers are a relatively modest 12th in shots on goal per game (32.7).

The team’s collective shooting percentage of 11.5% is also second behind only Colorado (12.1%).

By comparison, the Flames are in a three-way tie with the Vegas Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings for 17th in shooting percentage at 9.4%. They pace at 34.5 shots per game, fifth in the NHL.

So if the Pens allow a similar total of attempts by skilled Oilers scorers such as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as they did in Calgary on Monday, it could be a long night for Jarry. Draisaitl is currently the NHL’s points leader with 40. McDavid is third with 36. Draisaitl also has 20 goals to lead the league. McDavid is fifth with 14.

If Mike Sullivan’s team takes a lot of penalties, look out. Edmonton’s power play is clicking at a fearsome 37.7%, by far the best in hockey. St. Louis’ unit is second at 29.9%. Fortunately, the Penguins have only totaled 145 penalty minutes, fourth fewest in the league. And their penalty kill of 90.9% leads the NHL.

It’d behoove the Penguins to rely on a little shot volume themselves Wednesday night. That’s something they are capable of doing. At 35.4 shots on goal per game, only the Boston Bruins (36.5) put the puck on net more frequently than the Penguins do.

Gain the offensive zone cleanly. Keep the puck in the offensive end. Get the puck on net. Stay out of the box.

That’s the formula for getting two points in Edmonton Wednesday. Because for as good as Jarry has been lately, in this game he’s going to need a little help from his friends.

Take it away Joe Cocker.

After a week off during the Thanksgiving holiday, Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me for this week’s “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast. We dive into Jarry’s solid play of late, the seven-round shootout between the Penguins and Flames and Wednesday night’s showdown with the Oilers.