Tristan Jarry sharp again as Penguins surge to victory over Blue Jackets

Whether it be through contributions from their fourth line, the second power-play unit or even players recording hat tricks after a string of healthy scratches, there isn’t a shortage of contributing factors that have led to the Penguins’ success in recent weeks.

Of course, there tends to be one area of any team’s roster that is vital for any conquest.

Goaltending.

The Penguins are no exception. Starter Tristan Jarry has been very sharp as of late.

After a 4-1 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins are running hot with an 8-1-1 record in their past nine games.

And Jarry – who stopped 38 of 39 shots Tuesday – has posted numbers that are largely congruent with that surge of success.

In his past eight games, he has a 7-0-1 record as well as a 1.85 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage.

Those figures are largely the antithesis of a mostly dreadful run throughout late October through mid-November. In four games between from Oct. 28-Nov. 12, he had a 0-2-2 record, a 4.46 GAA and an .870 save percentage.

He might have had uglier numbers during that time, but he was struggling so badly, coaches opted to sit him in favor of backup Casey DeSmith for several games.

So, has anything changed for Jarry since then?

“No,” said Jarry, who usually deploys a thrifty economy of vocabulary. “Just playing.”

None of the Penguins played particularly well in the first period of Thursday’s game. The Blue Jackets appeared to catch them off guard in the first 20 minutes, outshooting them 10-9. The first shot of the contest supplied the Blue Jackets with a lead exactly one minute into regulation.

Off a cross-ice feed by linemate Patrik Laine, Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau streaked into the offensive zone on the left wing and from the left circle, he sizzled a far-side wrister that scorched Jarry’s left shoulder before hitting twine for Gaudreau’s ninth goal of the season. Laine had the lone assist.

It took the Penguins all of 122 seconds of the second period to take their first lead.

First, forward Bryan Rust scored his seventh goal 1:15 into the middle frame on a goal-mouth scramble. Taking a pass in the high slot, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin chucked a wrister that was wide of the cage on the left side. Clunking off the end boards, the puck deflected to the left of the crease and bounced off of goaltender Elvis Merzlikins’ right leg. From the left wing, Rust crashed in and jabbed a forehand shot through Merzlikins’ five hole. The only assist went to Dumoulin.

That was followed by forward Sidney Crosby finding his team-leading 14th goal at the 2:02 mark. After Crosby beat Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist on a draw in Columbus’ left circle, Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph wound up with the puck at the left point and flicked a quick pass to the left half wall for forward Rickard Rakell. From there, Rakell slid the puck to the high slot, where forward Jake Guentzel whacked a one-timer. Merzlikins stopped the shot with his left skate but allowed a rebound. Despite being hauled to the ice by defenseman Andrew Peeke, Crosby, from just to the left of the crease, was able to elevate the rebound over Merzlikins’left leg. Guentzel and Rakell recorded assists.

The Penguins’ beleaguered top power-play unit found some rare success at 10:14 of the second period. From the right circle of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin dished a seam pass to the left circle for Guentzel, who then snapped a backdoor pass to Crosby at the right of the crease. Crosby’s stick didn’t make contact with the puck, but it deflected off the stick of Blue Jackets’ defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov’s stick and fluttered into the cage. Crosby was awarded the goal off assists from Guentzel and Malkin.

The Blue Jackets issued an unsuccessful coach’s challenge on the basis of goaltender interference. After officials reviewed the video and confirmed the goal, a delay of game penalty was issued to the Blue Jackets.

Penguins forward Teddy Blueger had an opportunity to record his first goal of the season with a penalty shot at 14:13 of the second period, but Merzlikins, a childhood friend from their days in Latvia, denied his wrister.

Bizarre circumstances led to Blueger finally getting a goal at 16:33 of the third period.

During a four-on-four sequence, as Blue Jackets tried to pull Merzlikins for an extra attacker, Laine lost the puck on a poor pass attempt at the Penguins’ left point. Rust intercepted the puck and fired the puck down ice at the vacant cage. Merzlikins had not yet reached the bench before he retreated back to his zone and threw his stick at Rust’s shot that wound up hitting off the end boards. Blueger chased down the rebound in the right circle and shuffled an awkward forehand shot into the cage beyond a diving Merzlikins. Rust had the only assist.

“It felt great, obviously,” Blueger said of finally scoring a goal this season. “As much as you try not to think about it, it is in the back of your mind a little bit. It was frustrating, obviously, to have that chance on the penalty shot and kind of missed it.

“I think I’ll sleep better tonight.“

The Penguins’ penalty killers were due some rest after being taxed considerably. They turned away all five power-play opportunities that the Blue Jackets were afforded.

“Those guys did a real good job,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “Just their details, I thought they were locked in. They pressured when they had the opportunity.

“We competed hard on pucks. We made good decisions. When we didn’t have a good opportunity to pressure, we had good awareness away from the puck. When we had opportunities to pressure … we pressured with numbers and that’s an important aspect of it.”

And, as always, it is important to have a goaltender who is locked in.

“Right now, he’s in the zone,” Dumoulin said. “It’s very good to see. It’s fun playing in front of him. He’s seeing the puck right now, which is great.

“It’s been good to see him getting a run.”

Notes:

• Rust recorded an even five minutes of short-handed ice time. Before Tuesday, he had all of 4:42 of short-handed ice time in his first 25 games of the season.

• Blueger’s penalty shot was the second all-time by the Penguins against the Blue Jackets.

The first was by rookie forward Jordan Staal in a 5-3 home win at the Mellon Arena on Oct. 21, 2006.

Staal scored – short-handed – against goaltender Fredrik Norrena. The puck hit the left post then bounced off Norrena’s back before entering the cage.

• Crosby, Malkin and DeSmith all dressed after missing Monday’s practice due to an undisclosed illness.

• The Penguins have won 12 consecutive home games against the Blue Jackets dating to Dec. 21, 2015. The Blue Jackets’ last win in Pittsburgh was a 2-1 victory on Nov. 13, 2015. Mike Johnston was still serving as the Penguins’ coach.

• Malkin (1,171 points) surpassed forward Bobby Hull (1,170), a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, for 54th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Rakell recorded his 200th career assist.

• The Penguins set a new season-low for attendance (15,867). The previous low was set on Thursday during a 4-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights (15,895).

• The always affable Merzlikins offered some fun observations regarding his interactions with Blueger on Tuesday.

“I almost broke my neck there,” Merzlikins quipped about his misadventure on Blueger’s goal. “Almost got it.

“Good thing that I saved the penalty shot on him. We grew up together. That was probably the best penalty shot of all of my career.”

• Blue Jackets defenseman Tim Berni and forward Kirill Marchenko each made their NHL debuts.

Follow the Penguins all season long.