Now that's what I'm talking about.
The whole thing, not just Tristan Jarry.
But yeah, Jarry especially. Because I'm convinced from this press box perch at PPG Paints Arena that none of what I just witnessed down on that ice surface, by far the Penguins' most complete performance of the 2021 season in a 4-1 flattening of the Islanders, could've occurred without by far their most complete goaltending performance.
Case in point:
Yowza.
That's Teddy Blueger with his team's second goal late in the second period, but that's also Mike Matheson with a breathtaking bank-pass to himself off the end boards to set it up. Not sure I've seen that pulled off so slickly in a lifetime of loving the sport. But I'm at least pretty sure that poor Josh Bailey, the New York winger up there, had never previously been spun around like a top in that way.
I asked Matheson afterward how he'd concocted a concept that ridiculous.
"It was really just kind of an instinctual play," he'd flatly reply. "It wasn't anything I was looking to do before the game or anything like that. They're so good at blocking shots, and I was just trying to get a lane by them."
He found the HOV lane and floored it, basically. Just beautiful.
But precisely 30 seconds before that, in a scenario apparently deemed so inconsequential that it was omitted from the NHL's official 12-minute condensed game video, this happened:
That's Brock Nelson, owner of maybe the Islanders' softest set of mitts, skating in alone on Jarry. If he buries that, the score's tied, the late-period goal dramatically alters the looming intermission mood from both perspectives and, if I'm being honest, the Penguins probably lose.
Hey, it's not like there isn't precedent for all of the above, right?
No, that's not a save. Nelson wasn't even credit with a shot there. It's a shameful shank that floats into the left corner.
Immaterial. Watch Jarry's skates. And his stick. And his positioning. And his head and shoulders staying upright. And finally, his cool follow-through to his right to keep tracking the puck.
That was never going to be a goal. No chance. And I offer that independent of the possible intangible that Jarry would've already been embedded in the Islanders' heads after exhibiting exactly that composure in stopping all 25 shots through that stage of the game.
He'd wind up with 31 saves, the lone blemish a late, hollow power-play tap-in to quash the shutout. And that doesn't begin to describe how different he looked from just two nights earlier on this same rink in losing to the Capitals, 4-1.
"Tonight, I think, was his best game," Jason Zucker spoke of Jarry via epic understatement. "We need him to be ... as strong as he is throughout the rest of this season. We have full confidence in him. I don't think we gave him a ton of support to start the season. We left him out to dry a lot, so that's definitely not all on him. But it's great to see him playing well. Tonight, he was really, really good."
He really, really was.
He fought to maintain his view on shots through traffic, then whacked rebounds out of harm's way:
He held tight to his posts, working feverishly as the Islanders would swarm, then smothered anything loose:
And for my favorite repeated act, he came aggressively out of his crease on challenges like this one to Ryan Pulock:
I'd asked Jarry after the game Tuesday why he hadn't been doing that, so it felt right to ask after this one about this specific save on Pulock.
"Just to cut down the angle," he explained without much other reaction. "Just to give them less space when they're looking to shoot."
I won't take this too far, just as I didn't take Tuesday too far. It was one game and, again, it was the exception rather than the rule.
My main thrust here is this: The Penguins, collectively, did so much right in front of him, looking stronger and more cohesive than any of their first 14 games. And this against an opponent that just reached the Eastern Conference final and arrived here with an eight-game unbeaten streak.
That's not coincidence.
I'd asked Mike Sullivan after the game Tuesday how much exceptional goaltending can mean to a team's confidence, and he gently absolved Jarry of the loss while also acknowledging, "Well, certainly, when you get that type of goaltending, it can swing momentum. It can swing games, for sure."
After this one, I asked him, now that he'd finally experienced that type of goaltending, if his team did, in fact, feed off it.
"I think so," he replied. "Tristan was solid. I think he's making strides. He looks much more comfortable in the crease. He's tracking the puck through traffic. His rebound control has been improved. He's challenging the shooter. A lot of the characteristics of when Tristan's at his best, we're seeing progress in a lot of those areas."
And the team effect?
"When your goalie has a certain demeanor in the crease and a certain comfort level, I think that can be contagious along the bench."
He smiled slightly here.
"You know, it's an interesting thing to watch as a coach. When your goalie is comfortable and making saves for your team, it has a positive psychological impact on the group in front of him. And I think Tristan's doing that for us right now."
Why'd it take this long?
I asked Jarry if maybe he'd been affected by entering this season as the clear No. 1 following the Matt Murray trade, and he instead steered his answer to two places I'd never have anticipated.
"I think it's just the way the games are played," he replied. "Last year, it was more of a north-south game with a lot of down-low play and pucks being pumped to the blue line with a lot of shots and rebounds. This year, it's more east-west. You're seeing games all over the league that are high-scoring, maybe because of the shorter training camp and no exhibitions. There's a lot more time with the puck, a lot more skill."
And then, the other place: "I just think games are being played a little differently. There aren't as many momentum swings without having any fans. It was something I had to adapt to, something I had to work through."
OK. Hey, whatever it takes.

JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Sidney Crosby celebrates his redirect of a Kasperi Kapanen shot in the first period.
• Sullivan's flipping of right wingers -- Kasperi Kapanen to the top line, Bryan Rust to the second -- couldn't have worked better. The former generated Crosby's first-period goal, the captain's first at five-on-five all season that didn't go into an empty net, and the latter had a goal and an assist.
Most important, both lines operated with a palpable fresh energy.
"I think we're making progress," was all a cautious-sounding Sullivan would say to that. "One of the things we talk about with our players is just trying to get better each and every day and learn through the experiences, and try to grow as a group. We're trying to gain some traction here."
• I mentioned Matheson's play up there, but there was so much more to his game. He'd go coast to coast as if it were nothing, he'd burst away from forecheckers, he'd lead a forecheck of his own ... he controlled the rink at times.
"I'm just happy to be healthy and back in the fight," he'd say, downplaying all that.
Patric Hornqvist's off to a superb start in Sunrise -- six goals, seven assists in 13 games -- but never forget that Jim Rutherford acquired Matheson with ceiling in mind. He's eight years younger, he skates as if he were born wearing blades, and he's got instincts that ... well, that's now apparent to everyone around here.
• What exactly is Cody Ceci's major malfunction that had the hockey fans of both Ontario franchises treating him like a red-headed Jack Johnson?
I've yet to see it with my own eyes or, for that matter, with the advanced data that suggests he's been the Penguins' most consistent defenseman to date.
• It feels fair to point out that Evgeni Malkin skated hard and registered two assists, a plus-2 rating and two takeaways.
• It feels equally fair to point out that Kapanen performed as if he'd been busted out of prison.
• It feels, in contrast, terribly unfair to ask: Is the sellout streak over? Anyone figured this out yet? Or can we just file it away that every available ticket's still being sold since no tickets are actually available?
• Never to be taken for granted ...

NHL
• First time all year, I thought, Sam Lafferty looked like himself. Two shots, three hits over 14 shifts. Stayed engaged. And he needs to. He's a bit of a throwback winger in that he'll always need to be physical to create.
• The Islanders did not play poorly at all. If anything, their persistence, to me, made the Penguins matching them all the more impressive.
"We've had a good run," Nelson said, referring to New York's eight-game points streak. "We're trying to bank as many points as we can with the shortened season and only playing in our division. Tonight was a tough one. Just weren't able to get one, get some momentum and kind of feed off that."
They'll meet again here Saturday night.
• When they do, expect more pushing, shoving and even fighting. The Islanders showed they're livid with Matheson for what looked from above to be a fairly innocent little shove that sent Mat Barzal into the boards, and the refs evidently agreed since they assessed only a boarding minor. But after that, Matt Martin and other New York beefeaters came chasing after the No. 5 sweater. We'll see.
• Big ups to the security guard behind the net that Zucker hit with his third-period goal for yelling out 'YEAH!' loud enough that ... um, it was the only sound in the entire place.
• Jarry's right, by the way: It's a changed game in this setting. I can't put my finger on precisely how, but it is.
What a time, huh?