Jarry's Terrific Play Helps Penguins Get a Point in Carolina

On Saturday in Carolina, the Penguins got excellent goaltending from Tristan Jarry to keep them in the game after a slow start – along with a spark in the third period after Bryan Rust reunited with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the top line.

That trio combined for two goals in the final frame to tie the score at 2-2 and force overtime, but Brett Pesce scored the winner to give Carolina a 3-2 win.

“It’s great that we’re able to come back and get a point and we’re able to push back at the end of the game there,” Jarry said. “But I think if we have a little bit better start, that sets us up for the majority of the game. I thought we came back well. We played well in the second period and the third period, that’s what led us to be able to come back."

Jarry ended up with 32 saves in a game where his work was cut out for him from the start, just like it was on Thursday in Pittsburgh. That night, Jarry relieved Alex Nedeljkovic after a first period where the Canucks built a 3-1 lead on a trio of deflection tallies, with Mike Sullivan looking to give the guys some juice. Jarry was terrific from the get-go, turning aside some early odd-man rushes and continuing his strong play from there in a 4-3 loss.

Tonight, Jarry stopped a breakaway from four-time 30-goal scorer Sebastian Aho just 19 seconds into the game, and remained lights out as the Hurricanes generated a handful of Grade-A chances early. The score could have been much worse than 2-0 if it wasn’t for Jarry, who said the Hurricanes get a lot of energy from putting pucks deep and forechecking hard.

“He was great. I think without him, it’s probably 4, 5-nothing after the first period,” Rust said. “They had some really glorious chances. He kept us in there, and he allowed us to kind of make that push.”

For the most part, the power play has been productive since ending their month-long slump in December, but they’ve struggled a bit the last couple of games – going 0-for-4 against Vancouver, and 0-for-4 tonight.

But the Penguins found the timely tallies they needed with Rust moving from Evgeni Malkin’s wing to the captain’s. He helped set up Guentzel’s goal that brought the Penguins within one and recorded the equalizer with less than a minute in regulation.

"We were just working hard," Rust said. "I think that’s a key against a team like that. You just gotta outwork them and you gotta get pucks and bodies at the net, and that’s how you score goals."

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh just couldn’t find another in overtime for the second straight game.

“It’s great that our team’s got that in us to push back, but it sucks to be in that situation that many times in a row,” Rust said.

With Reilly Smith out longer-term and Noel Acciari a late scratch due to injury, Colin White made his Penguins debut. After going to the Stanley Cup Final with Florida last season, the 26-year-old forward attended Pittsburgh’s training camp on a professional tryout contract and signed a one-year deal.

He had picked up five goals and 10 points in 21 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before getting the call-up. White, who is from Boston, Massachusetts, has appeared in nearly 300 NHL games and skated in 21 playoff contests with the Panthers last season.

Radim Zohorna, who had been a healthy scratch for the last six games, also slotted into the lineup. Here’s what Sullivan had to say after the game.

What are your thoughts on the response in the third period? “I thought the response was terrific. I thought we competed hard. We get outplayed in the first and then I thought from then on there, we competed hard. But we put ourselves in a hole in the first.

What can you say about Jarry’s play? “He was terrific. I thought he was terrific all night.”

Why do you think you got outplayed in the first? “I don't have an answer for you.”

Is there a common theme with all the odd-man rushes you gave up in the first period, any one facet that troubled you? “The only facet that troubled me was the amount of odd-man rushes that we gave up. They happened different ways, to answer your question.”

What was the idea behind putting Rust back on the top line? “I just didn't think we were getting what we needed. I thought Sid’s line had moments when they had some zone time, they had some scoring chances. So, we made the switch in the third to see if we could get something.”

Is Acciari hurt? “Yes. He's day to day with an upper-body injury.”

A month ago, the power play was clearly making progress. It feels like it's regressing now. How concerned are you with that unit? “Well, it's not good enough right now. It has to be better.”