This was one of those nights where Tristan Jarry's save percentage of .846 after stopping 22 of 26 shots doesn't quite reflect how well he played in the Penguins' win over the Predators. There were large stretches early on in which the Predators had all the momentum, and the Penguins went ages without even a shot on goal. Three of the four goals allowed came off high-danger shots, like off rebound chances from just in front of the net.
"I thought he made some key saves at key times," Mike Sullivan said. "I thought his game was fine. The stats in a one-game snapshot scenario, I think sometimes can be deceiving. We try to look at it in more detail with respect to the timing of saves and things of that nature, the types of goals that they scored, they were pretty good goals. The goals they scored, they had pretty good looks on. And so I thought he made a handful of big saves for us to keep it within striking distance when we needed him to. That gives us the juice to continue to compete, to climb back in the game."
The Predators first goal came on just their second shot of the game. This game was Jarry's 14th of the season, and he's only recorded at least five consecutive saves to open a game twice. This game was tough -- the first two shots came off two-on-one rushes. Jarry handled the first one well, but the Predators capitalized on the second one. So, Jarry didn't exactly have things easy early on, but it's a worrying trend nonetheless.
• Bryan Rust's two goals (including the overtime winner) and two assists made for his eighth career four-point game and his second in his last four games.
• This was also Rust's second overtime goal in the Penguins' last eight games, and the eighth of his career. He now ranks sixth in team history in overtime goals scored, surpassing Phil Kessel (5).
• The Penguins now have eight wins since Nov. 27, the most in the league in that span. Rust has half the game-winning goals in those eight wins.
• That was Rust's 29th career game-winning goal, surpassing Chris Kunitz (28) for the eighth-most in team history. Next up: Jake Guentzel, with 31. At the rate Rust is going, passing Guentzel might not be far off.
• Rust's two goals bring him to 186 goals in his career, surpassing Mike Bullard (185) for the ninth-most in team history. Next up: Guentzel, with 219.
• Sidney Crosby's three assists brought him to 1,030 in his career, three shy of tying Mario Lemieux for the most in team history.
• Rickard Rakell now has five goals and five assists in seven games since Sweden left him off its 4 Nations Face-Off roster.
• The Penguins were briefly back in the second wild card spot until the Senators beat the Flames in overtime. They're a point behind the Senators with two more games played for the second wild card spot, and three points behind the Bruins for the first wild card spot with an equal number of games played. The team below the Penguins in the standings is the Flyers, who trail by three points with one fewer game played.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
5:58 am - 12.20.2024Nashville, Tenn.Loose Pucks: Jarry 'fine,' Rust's milestones
This was one of those nights where Tristan Jarry's save percentage of .846 after stopping 22 of 26 shots doesn't quite reflect how well he played in the Penguins' win over the Predators. There were large stretches early on in which the Predators had all the momentum, and the Penguins went ages without even a shot on goal. Three of the four goals allowed came off high-danger shots, like off rebound chances from just in front of the net.
"I thought he made some key saves at key times," Mike Sullivan said. "I thought his game was fine. The stats in a one-game snapshot scenario, I think sometimes can be deceiving. We try to look at it in more detail with respect to the timing of saves and things of that nature, the types of goals that they scored, they were pretty good goals. The goals they scored, they had pretty good looks on. And so I thought he made a handful of big saves for us to keep it within striking distance when we needed him to. That gives us the juice to continue to compete, to climb back in the game."
The Predators first goal came on just their second shot of the game. This game was Jarry's 14th of the season, and he's only recorded at least five consecutive saves to open a game twice. This game was tough -- the first two shots came off two-on-one rushes. Jarry handled the first one well, but the Predators capitalized on the second one. So, Jarry didn't exactly have things easy early on, but it's a worrying trend nonetheless.
• Bryan Rust's two goals (including the overtime winner) and two assists made for his eighth career four-point game and his second in his last four games.
• This was also Rust's second overtime goal in the Penguins' last eight games, and the eighth of his career. He now ranks sixth in team history in overtime goals scored, surpassing Phil Kessel (5).
• The Penguins now have eight wins since Nov. 27, the most in the league in that span. Rust has half the game-winning goals in those eight wins.
• That was Rust's 29th career game-winning goal, surpassing Chris Kunitz (28) for the eighth-most in team history. Next up: Jake Guentzel, with 31. At the rate Rust is going, passing Guentzel might not be far off.
• Rust's two goals bring him to 186 goals in his career, surpassing Mike Bullard (185) for the ninth-most in team history. Next up: Guentzel, with 219.
• Sidney Crosby's three assists brought him to 1,030 in his career, three shy of tying Mario Lemieux for the most in team history.
• Rickard Rakell now has five goals and five assists in seven games since Sweden left him off its 4 Nations Face-Off roster.
• The Penguins were briefly back in the second wild card spot until the Senators beat the Flames in overtime. They're a point behind the Senators with two more games played for the second wild card spot, and three points behind the Bruins for the first wild card spot with an equal number of games played. The team below the Penguins in the standings is the Flyers, who trail by three points with one fewer game played.
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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