Mark Madden: Penguins could benefit from Tristan Jarry's puckhandling against Capitals

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ biggest obstacle in the Eastern half of the Stanley Cup playoffs figures to be Washington, and vice versa. Same as it ever was.

Last year’s first-round hiccup vs. the New York Islanders was disappointing. But this year’s Penguins have found structure and system and would be legit challengers to Washington in a best-of-7.

Uh, probably.

You see, the Penguins haven’t yet played Washington this season. Goaltender Tristan Jarry has never played against the Capitals.

That makes Sunday’s afternoon game at D.C. all the more interesting. It illuminates the goaltending battle between Jarry and Matt Murray in a fractional but crucial way.

The Capitals play big. Their forecheck puts you through the boards. It’s designed to hurt.

Their captain, Alex Ovechkin, leads the charge. How many superstars have ever played with that kind of reckless physicality?

Fellow winger Tom Wilson plays with borderline criminality. But his combination of size, skill and malfeasance is unique to the NHL. If the Penguins countered him with a goon, it would cripple one of their lines. There’s no equal for the Penguins to get.

Wilson is hardly hockey’s best player. But he’s one of the toughest to deal with. He’s unique, a top-line enforcer. Wilson and Ovechkin on the ice together are lethal.

That’s where Jarry comes in.

Jarry handles the puck very well. That helps control the foe’s forecheck and keeps the defensemen from playing with their nose against the glass.

You don’t want your nose against the glass when Ovechkin, Wilson, etc., are barreling at you. That’s how you get your nose broke, along with other body parts.

The Penguins’ defensive corps is the team’s biggest strength besides center. Keeping it intact throughout the playoffs seems crucial. Jarry in goal against Washington allows a better chance of that happening.

That’s not to say coach Mike Sullivan should play the inferior puckstopper. This is based on all else being equal.

That’s not to say this decision has to be made now.

But series between the Penguins and Capitals always hang on a razor’s edge. It’s not absurd to say Jarry’s puckhandling could be a big factor. It’s advisable to play Jarry against Washington ASAP — as in Sunday — to see how this dynamic plays out.

There aren’t many options when it comes to neutralizing how big the Capitals play, not least because they also have ample speed and skill.

General manager Jim Rutherford has tinkered with ways to offset Wilson. But tough-guy winger Ryan Reeves wasn’t good enough to play a regular shift. Hulking defenseman Erik Gudbranson was too slow and unskilled to fit the Penguins’ style.

The Penguins put their style first, and rightly so. The best way to trump Wilson and Washington’s method is to skate fast, play fast, possess the puck and make the Capitals chase the Penguins. That has been known to happen.

But Wilson exacts a toll: Witness the 2018 playoffs, when Wilson broke Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw with a high hit to earn a three-game suspension. (No offense to Aston-Reese, but the Penguins were quietly happy with that trade.)

The Capitals lead the Eastern Conference with 73 points but are not without flaw. Trading ex-Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen to Philadelphia for Radko Gudas was a big dip in talent, and Niskanen has often fared well matched against Sidney Crosby. Goalie Braden Holtby is mercurial and has mostly been outplayed by rookie netminder Ilya Samsonov, whose stats dwarf Holtby’s.

If the Penguins and Capitals meet in the postseason, the series will go six or seven games. Little things will mean a lot — like, perhaps, Jarry’s puckhandling.

This isn’t a campaign for Jarry. It’s urging Sullivan to consider every single factor.