Penguins, Jarry Stick a (Pitch)Fork in Devils
It seems obvious that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan gave goalie Tristan Jarry his fourth consecutive start Saturday to see if Jarry could continue to build on his strong play during the previous three games.
That looked to be a pretty good idea before the game and an even better one after it, as Jarry turned aside 25 of 28 shots and allowed just one 5-on-5 goal in the Penguins’ 7-3 win over New Jersey at PPG Paints Arena.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Sullivan said. “He made some outstanding saves for us.”
It was the Penguins’ fourth consecutive victory, matching their longest winning streak of the season, and raised their record to 28-31-10.
The Penguins, who had lost their previous six home games against the Devils, are just 2-7-2 in their past 11 overall against New Jersey.
New Jersey, which had won its previous three games, has not won four in a row since the 2022-23 season.
The Devils played without their best forward, center Jack Hughes, and top defenseman, Dougie Hamilton, both of whom are injured. The Penguins again were missing defensemen Ryan Shea and P.O Joseph and forward Tommy Novak.
The Penguins entered the third period with a 3-1 lead, and Philip Tomasino gave them a little more breathing room with a nice individual effort at 2:22, as he pounced on a loose puck after Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic lost control of it, then whipped a shot past Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom from the inner edge of the left circle for his 10th of the season.
The Penguins promptly shifted into self-destruct mode.
Penguins forward Noel Acciari was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking New Jersey defenseman Brian Dumoulin at 3:21 and, while the Penguins were able to get through the first two-plus minutes unscathed, Timo Meier beat Jarry from inside the right circle at 5:40 to get the Devils within two.
Just six seconds — yes, six seconds — after Meier scored, Evgeni Malkin went off for four minutes after high-sticking Devils defenseman Brett Pesce.
New Jersey needed only the first 54 seconds of that power play to make it 4-3, as Nico Hischier deflected in a Luke Hughes shot from the high slot.
The Penguins got a chance to counter when Pesce was penalized for cross-checking Kevin Hayes at 12:25, and Erik Karlsson took full advantage by scoring on a wrist shot from the high slot at 14:17, eight seconds before the Devils would have returned to full strength. Malkin and Kris Letang got the assists.
Connor Dewar put the game out of reach by hitting an empty net with 53.6 seconds to go in regulation and, after Markstrom returned to his crease, Kevin Hayes closed out the scoring with 21.1 seconds to go.
The Penguins started well enough, but Devils winger Cody Glass — who the Penguins sent to New Jersey at the trade deadline eight days ago — opened the scoring at 10:08 of the first period, as he beat Jarry through traffic from inside the right dot.
The Penguins didn’t let up, however, and grabbed a 2-1 lead on goals by bottom-six forwards during a 25-second span late in the period.
Dewar tied the game, 1-1, at 17:11, swiping a shot past Markstrom from the front edge of the crease. The goal, Dewar’s second of the season and second in the past two games, netted assists for Acciari and Conor Timmins.
The Penguins were in front on the next shift, as Danton Heinen capped a 2-on-1 break with Philip Tomasino by sliding a backhander behind Markstrom. Vladislav Kolyachonok picked up the second assist on the goal, Heinen’s eighth.
New Jersey got its second power play of the game at 1:37 of the second, when Kolyachonok was called for tripping. The Penguins survived that man-advantage, too, in large part because of a pair of exceptional stops by Jarry on Ondrej Palat from close range.
The Penguins didn’t wait long to reward Jarry for his splendid saves, as Rickard Rakell threw a shot past Markstrom from between the hash marks at 4:24. Sidney Crosby and Timmins got assists on the goal, Rakell’s 31st.
A double-minor on Pesce for high-sticking Rakell at 11:44 gave the Penguins a stellar opportunity to add to their lead, but they were lucky to get out of that man-advantage without the score changing.
Not only was their work with the extra man toothless, but Malkin was guilty of a ghastly giveaway in the neutral zone that led to a 2-on-0 break for the Devils, culminating in a shorthanded goal by Nathan Bastian after he took a feed from Curtis Lazar.
The Penguins challenged that Bastian had crossed the blue line before the puck and a video review confirmed it, so the goal was waved off.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a scheduled day off Sunday. They will return to practice Monday at 11 a.m. at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Categorized:Penguins Penguins News
Playoffs???
four points back but four more games played. I won’t go there until the real number is six points.
The G play is better, the D seems to have been upgraded, and the secondary scoring from lines 2, 3, and 4 all of a sudden has kicked in. So if all of that continues, they will make it close and if they catch a break or two, maybe they squeak in. LFG!
Playoffs: not happening folks
Play like crap all season, get hot the last 17 games, miss the playoffs, and then delude themselves into thinking they should keep Jarry.
Almost like when they did this last year and deluded themselves into keeping Ned
I’ll pass and take Showcase No. 2, Drew . . . Jarry improves his trade value considerably then Duby comes to his senses.
Kinda what were left with King, unless they delude themselves that he is rehabiltated. Hope, I hope Dubas isn’t that thick.
Hit the nail right, on, it’s HEAD!
Another win in a row! That’s 4, can they win all remaining 13?
And tie 1993 pens all time win streak record! And maybe still miss playoffs by a point again! 🤣
Boko Watch – Pens are 8-3-1 with Boko in the lineup.
LMAO!!
Boko the Joko!
Since Jan. 29, Karlsson ranks No. 6 in points/game (1.0) among d-men league-wide. Unless somebody makes a redonkulous offer, there’s zero reason to move him.
I guess you haven’t seen him play defense
If EK65 averages a point a game, he doesn’t have to win the Norris Trophy. Let Tanger take care of that one.
He wasn’t brought in for his defense, that was known from the beginning. His D pairing is responsible for EK65 failures on D. Problem is, Pens at least up to now didn’t have that quality of a defenseman to compensate.
Nobody’s seen him play defense. Guy does not play winning hockey. He needs to go this summer. I wish him well, but it has t worked
I can think of about 5…unfortunately for the Penguins, there was 3 months of hockey prior to the 29th
It took that long for the wonks to figure out how to use EK65 and for him to be . comfortable in the role. One arm of the straightjacket has been removed and we’ve seen the results. Pittsburgh also is one most difficult transitions for a newcomer because it’s not especially kind to outsiders and notorious for living in the past. Finally, he’s playing more aggressively to his strengths and less concerned about his place in the pecking order.
I can give you 5….unfortunately for the Penguins, there was 3 months of hockey before the 29th
You know, I also fantasize about playoffs, but I’m in touch with reality. As the Enumclaw incident has proven, fantasizing is one thing, doing is another. Somehow it always plays out differently than it did in your head.