Tristan Jarry acknowledged after the Penguins' practice Wednesday that his performances in shootouts this season left a lot to be desired.
Jarry entered Thursday's game against the Panthers 0-3 in shootouts, including back-to-back losses to the Wild and Blackhawks in the previous two games. He had faced a total of 10 shooters in those three shootouts, and stopped just three.
"It's something I have to improve on," Jarry said Wednesday. "It's something I've been working on. It's tough. There's the best players in the world coming at you. ... I think I just have to be more assertive and make sure I'm showing my best version of myself. ... I'll be the first one to be happiest when it does happen."
I'm sure that Jarry was hoping for a chance to redeem himself in the shootout soon when he said that. I can't imagine that he thought that opportunity would come just the following day.
After a third-period goal from the Panthers forced overtime, and the game remained tied after the five-minute extra frame, Jarry got his chance at redemption.
He stopped three of four shooters he faced to help lead the Penguins to a 3-2 win, earning No. 1 star.
"It's exciting, obviously it was something that I wanted to get better at," Jarry said of the shootout. "Just watching video, the guys helping do some shootouts in practice and breakaways, I think that helped me a lot and prepared me. I think everyday we did it, I got better. I think that was something that the guys did a great job for me, helping me and just making sure that we were on top of it. It helped a lot."
One teammate in particular was able to help a little extra.
When the overtime period ended, Jarry made a beeline to Mike Matheson at the end of the Penguins' bench.
Matheson, having spent five years of his career with the Panthers before being traded to Pittsburgh two summers ago, knew all too well how dangerous some of the Panthers shooters could be in a shootout, and what their tendencies were.
Jarry spent nearly the entire break before the shootout talking to Matheson, presumably getting some advice from the former Panther.
I asked Jarry afterward what kind of help Matheson was able to offer.
"Ah, secret," he said quietly, making himself laugh.
After a pause, he smiled and shared a little more insight.
"I just asked him who was probably going to shoot," he said. "So he gave me a couple of guys that he thought would shoot, and I just kind of bounced ideas off of him, what might happen. Just with him being there for so long, and knowing the guys, I thought he was someone that could help me."
The Penguins opted to shoot first, and Jake Guentzel was first up. Guentzel entered this season with a 62.5 percent career shooting percentage in shootouts, well above the league-average of about 33 percent. He hasn't been nearly as strong in shootouts this season, entering this game 1 for 3 in his opportunities. He was stopped by Sergei Bobrovsky on his shot, falling to 1 for 4 on the season.
The Panthers started their No. 1 shootout weapon for the first round in Aleksander Barkov. Barkov has extensive shootout experience with 53 opportunities and converted on 43.4 percent of them, the best record of any of the Panthers' regular shootout performers. He skated in very slowly, but Jarry remained patient and got a piece of the shot, deflecting it wide.
Kris Letang started the second round of the shootout and was stopped by Bobrovsky with a glove save, falling to 0 for 4 this season. Jonathan Huberdeau, who has a 30.5 percent career success rate, was up next. He beat Jarry five-hole for the first goal of the shootout.
Bryan Rust scored on his attempt to start the third round to tie it, taking a shot that went off the post and in. Patric Hornqvist came in with speed and had the opportunity to win the game but fired the puck into Jarry's shoulder, forcing a fourth round.
The Penguins sent out Jeff Carter next, and Carter put the puck between Bobrovsky's pad and the post to score.
Jarry was either really, really happy for Carter, or he lost track and thought the game was over, because he dropped to one knee and started skating toward the Penguins' bench while pumping his fist.
He still had one more save to make, though.
The Panthers countered with Anton Lundell -- their 2020 first-round pick. Unlike the other three shooters Jarry had faced, Lundell wasn't a former teammate of Matheson's. Lundell, a rookie, had never even attempted a shootout in the NHL before, so it's not like there was a wealth of video of his tendencies to study in the pre-scout meetings either.
It just came down to Jarry.
Asked about his mindset facing that last shooter, Jarry said that he tried to "just fall back on the things I've been working on" in practices over this early part of the season.
Jarry stopped Lundell with a pad save.
Jarry celebrated with a redo of his celebration after Carter's goal, dropping to one knee and skating toward the Penguins' bench while pumping his fist. This time, the game was over, and he was mobbed by teammates on the ice.
"Yeah, that was huge," Evan Rodrigues said of Jarry coming through in the shootout. "I think as a whole team, that was big. You know, we go down in the shootout and battle back, two big goals by (Rust and Carter),and (Jarry) makes two big saves. That was a huge one for us."
A huge win for the team, sure. But especially for Jarry.
"I couldn't be any happier for Tristan." Todd Reirden said. "I had a really good feeling going into that shootout. We've spent some more time talking about different ways of getting better and improving, and to me it's just part of his growth as a goaltender, being involved in those situations. He's not a guy that's had 20 shootouts in his career. He hasn't had very many, so unfortunately it's a learning process for him, and we're going through and doing everything we possibly can to give him the tools to have success. I'm really glad to see him get rewarded tonight."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Teddy Blueger opened the scoring at 13:37 of the first period with just an elite-level setup from Letang:
• Frank Vatrano -- a third-line winger who has somehow become the Panthers' Penguins-killer with six goals and four assists in 12 career meetings -- tied the game off of a 2-on-1, with Chad Ruhwedel as the only man back after Matheson got stuck behind the play:
• Evan Rodrigues regained the lead with this goal on a partial breakaway:
• Barkov's third-period tally was the one that forced overtime:
• It initially looked like Anthony Duclair scored later in the third period to put the Panthers up 3-2. The players on the ice saw that it was offside, with Mark Friedman yelling "off! off!" at the officials approximately two milliseconds after the puck had gone into the back of the net. The Penguins challenged the goal, which was quickly overturned on video replay:
Reirden said that credit for the challenge goes "100 percent" to the Penguins' video coaches, Andy Saucier and Madison Nikkel.
"Madison and Andy are I believe some of the top guys in the league, without a doubt," Reirden said. "That was right away quickly sent our way to the bench that it was offside. It looked like it right in front of us, we had a pretty clear visual of it, but you never know. And certainly when they send that message our way, that certainly was a big turning point."
• Shootout aside, Jarry had a great game with 36 saves on 38 shots.
• Marcus Pettersson and Ruhwedel both returned to the Penguins' lineup after their bouts with COVID-19. Juuso Riikola and Taylor Fedun were re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before the game, and P.O Joseph was the other odd man out in the lineup for the game.
• Pettersson's return didn't last long. He was injured in the first period after a collision with Owen Tippett and didn't return to the game:
Reirden didn't have an update on Pettersson after the game, saying that he was still being evaluated. The Penguins canceled Friday's practice, so we likely won't get an update on Pettersson until Saturday's morning skate in Ottawa.
• With Pettersson missing most of the game, the remaining defensemen rotated pairings and picked up big minutes. Letang played 28:27, Matheson played 23:18, John Marino played 27:05 including some shifts on his off side, Friedman played 17:35, and Ruhwedel played 18:52.
"I thought the five guys did an outstanding job," Reirden said of that group handling the challenge. "You talk about someone like what Kris has done since he's come back from COVID protocol. When these guys come back from being out, they're not 100 percent. To be able to play the kind of minutes he's been playing and against the competition, certainly he'll probably be the first to say he'd like to change some of the plays he's made. But we're fortunate to have a leader like that back there, especially in a situation with five defensemen. Major, major credit goes to those five guys for really pulling together against a real talented Florida team."
• Carter led the team with six shots on goal.
• Carter also had a great night in the faceoff circle too, going 12-4 for a 75 percent success rate. That includes a near-perfect 6-for-7 in the offensive zone, and a perfect 4-for-4 against Lundell.
• Matheson had a nice night other than the decision that led to the Vatrano goal. He led the team in takeaways with four.
• I just thought that everyone needs to see this backcheck from Brock McGinn again:
• I also thought that everyone should see Jason Zucker head-butt this puck for some reason:
• This was Hornqvist's first game back in Pittsburgh since the trade, and he got a video tribute at the first TV timeout, followed by a long ovation from the fans.
Here’s Patric Hornqvist’s tribute video. pic.twitter.com/6WHEqKNybo
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) November 12, 2021
• Carter's two kids watched warmups from the Zamboni tunnel and both had posters made for him. Carter had the biggest smile watching.
• Florida entered this three-game road trip 10-0-1. They lost 4-3 in regulation to the Devils, 7-3 to the Rangers, and then this loss to the Penguins. Surprising to see them go on this kind of run after the start they had.
• Still no sellout since the streak ended. There were 17,194 tickets sold, still about 1,000 under capacity.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Tristan Jarry, Penguins
2. Evan Rodrigues, Penguins
3. Aleksander Barkov, Panthers
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Forward Evgeni Malkin is expected to miss the first two months of the season while recovering from his knee surgery. He has been skating with Ty Hennes.
• Defenseman Brian Dumoulin tested positive for COVID last Wednesday and is asymptomatic.
• Forward Sidney Crosby tested positive for COVID last Wednesday and was symptomatic.
• Coach Mike Sullivan tested positive for COVID last Thursday and was symptomatic.
• Defenseman Marcus Pettersson left this game with an unknown injury.
THE LINEUPS
Reirden’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Jeff Carter - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evan Rodrigues - Kasperi Kapanen
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor - Brian Boyle - Zach Aston-Reese
Mike Matheson - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - John Marino
Juuso Riikola - Mark Friedman
And for Andrew Brunette's Panthers:
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau - Sam Bennett - Owen Tippett
Frank Vatrano - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart
Ryan Lomberg - Eetu Luostarinen - Patric Hornqvist
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Lucas Carlsson - Brandon Montour
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins were initially scheduled to practice Friday in Cranberry, but canceled practice after the game. They'll play the Senators in Ottawa in Saturday, assuming that the entire Senators team doesn't have COVID by then. Dave will handle that trip, and I'll handle the game in Washington on Sunday.
THE CONTENT
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