Penguins Have a Goalie Situation; Sullivan Sends Very Loud Message

TORONTO — Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is not stupid, nor does he live in an insular bubble devoid of media chatter. No, despite coaches’ and players’ claims that they never read or listen to sports media, players and coaches are also keenly aware of its content.

And Sullivan knew exactly what would happen if he put Tristan Jarry on the bench in two of the first three games. Still, he did anyway, choosing to start a 22-year-old rookie goalie against one of the most offensively talented teams in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Oh, that could have gone badly on Saturday. Not quite as bad as the 7-0 beatdown Toronto administered to the helpless Penguins last December, but it was a risk to give a goalie who was ticketed for the AHL just one week ago a second straight start.

In doing so, Sullivan both opened an opportunity for Joel Blomqvist to begin claiming his NHL destiny and an opportunity for every media outlet and fan to begin the “goalie controversy” noise.

Blomqvist seized his opportunity and was very good against Toronto. Reigning Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews had eight shots and four high-danger scoring chances, including a pair of short breakaways. Blomqvist stopped them all.

Goalie controversy? You betcha.

Blomqvist has been steady, calm, and a wall in the net. Sure, there is a big downside to putting him in the deep end of the pool too soon. By exposing him to NHL shooters, opponents will inevitably find his weakness before he fixes it–if it can be fixed (See also: Matt Murray’s glove side).

The upside is that Blomqvist gave the Penguins a better chance to win in Detroit and Toronto than Jarry did against New York on opening night.

In fact, Sullivan has clearly and loudly delivered another message to Jarry. It’s the same message delivered last spring when he superglued Jarry to the bench while giving Alex Nedeljkovic the final 13 starts of the season.

No, Sullivan won’t publicly admit to losing confidence in Jarry or using the bench time to send a message. Despite coaching under John Tortorella for nearly a decade, Sullivan eschews Tortorella’s publicly blunt responses.

Two seasons ago, Tortorella referred to struggling prospect Morgan Frost as a “toilet seat” because he was up and down. Sullivan knows what he’s doing but will not do the same to Jarry.

Instead, the message is being delivered through actions.

Make no mistake, if Sullivan believed Jarry was his No. 1 goalie, he would have started Saturday, just as Sullivan would have gone back to him last April after one of the overtime losses.

Of the last 17 Penguins games dating back to March 22, Jarry has started twice. He was pulled against Dallas after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Jarry could have been pulled again during the first game of this season, the 6-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Sullivan likely would have yanked Jarry in favor of Alex Nedeljkovic but chose discretion, not wanting to expose Blomqvist to that game and needing him the next night.

Coaches often want to protect their players from unfair public situations. Former Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke’s book details stories of the team making comments to pull attention away from Phil Kessel, who was the center of a fan-driven firestorm in Toronto in the year before his trade to the Penguins.

Players and coaches know very well what’s being said and written.

A coach who firmly believed in Jarry would have gone back to him Saturday, no matter how well the rookie played in Game 2. Sullivan seemed to acknowledge the coaches changed their goalie schedule following Blomqvist’s performance on Thursday.

“It had an impact,” said Sullivan.

And Sullivan had a little fun with the Toronto media, who wanted to ask his impressions of Blomqvist.

“He’s a very good goalie. He’s athletic. He makes a lot of saves,” said Sullivan with the slightest flash of a wry smile before simply ending his answer.

But Sullivan also knew the distracting storyline that would arise. He chose to start the unproven third goalie at some risk to Blomqvist and the team. Yet, it’s been a long time since Sullivan called Jarry’s name in consecutive games, and Sullivan probably won’t call it Monday in Montreal—there’s no reason to pull Blomqvist out now.

The messages, internally and externally, are quite clear.

What the Penguins do in a week or so when Nedeljkovic is healthy and the team needs to shed a roster spot is suddenly a lot more interesting. Of course, Blomqvist could give back the momentum with a poor performance, and everyone would understand, but that somehow seems unlikely. Blomqvist posted a .921 save percentage with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last year before a short, shaky playoff series.

Sullivan would have known Blomqvist wouldn’t be around in a week, too, and he still started him.

Message sent loud and clear.