Penguins fall to Canucks as losing streak reaches 3 games
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A son of British Columbia — born in Surrey and raised in North Delta — Tristan Jarry grew up a fan of the Vancouver Canucks in the early 2000s.
Given that Jarry was a goaltender himself, he grew up a fan of ex-Canucks netminder Dan Cloutier.
“I guess the goalies were ones I always watched,” Jarry said to media in Vancouver last December. “We had season tickets three rows up, right behind the goalie. So I got to watch the goalie very closely.”
Jarry and the Penguins were largely spectators, and not so much participants, on Friday as they were thumped by the current edition of the Canucks, 5-1, at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena. The defeat extended a losing streak to a season-worst three games for the Penguins who will conclude a five-game road trip on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken.
For the fourth consecutive game, the Penguins allowed the opposition to score first. In this case, former Penguins forward Tanner Pearson found his first goal of the season 13:52 into regulation.
Following the expiration of a power-play opportunity, Canucks forward Connor Garland controlled the puck in the Penguins’ left corner then chopped a slap-pass through the slot to Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev. Battling Pearson above the crease, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin abandoned that endeavor and slid to block a passing lane with a tactic that resembled something of a break-dancing maneuver. Mikheyev snapped a forehand pass past Dumoulin’s right skate to the unguarded Pearson, who tapped in an easy forehand shot past Jarry’s right skate. Mikheyev and Garland had assists.
A power-play goal supplied the Canucks with a two-goal lead only 32 seconds into the second period.
Short-handed, Penguins forward Ryan Poehling attempted a wraparound forehand shot from the right of the cage but lost control, allowing the puck to skid to the left-wing boards of the Canucks’ zone. Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko claimed the errant puck and fed a pass up the wall to forward Bo Horvat. Gaining the Penguins’ zone on the right wing, Horvat encountered passive resistance from Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta, who slid down to take away a potential pass. Horvat accepted the invitation to shoot and toasted Jarry’s glove on the near side with a wrister for his fifth goal. The only assist went to Kuzmenko.
The Penguins got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at 16:03 of the second period.
Taking a pass on the right wing of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin spun to his right and whipped a pass to the slot for forward Bryan Rust. Backpedaling a bit, Rust lifted a wrister toward the cage that goaltender Spencer Martin stopped initially with his left shoulder. The rebound trickled loose in the crease, where Penguins forward Rickard Rakell pitchforked a backhander into the vacant cage for his fourth goal. Rust and Malkin tallied assists.
Kuzmenko restored a two-goal lead for his team at 10:28 of the third period.
After a neutral-zone turnover by Penguins forward Danton Heinen, Canucks forward Elias Pettersson fed a pass from the high slot of the offensive zone to Mikheyev dashing in from the left circle. After Jarry denied his backhanded shot, Mikheyev recovered his own rebound to the right of the cage and dished a forehand pass to the right point for Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn, who clapped a one-timer at the cage. Positioned above the crease, Kuzmenko deflected the puck over Jarry’s right shoulder for his third goal. Schenn and Mikheyev netted assists.
The Canucks poured it on at 16:42 of the final frame. After Penguins forward Josh Archibald took a boarding penalty for a hit into the Canucks’ end boards on defenseman Kyle Burroughs, the Canucks converted the ensuing power-play opportunity.
After Horvat beat Poehling on an offensive zone draw in the Penguins’ right circle — Poehling lost his stick and right glove in the process — Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson controlled the puck at center point, surveyed for a shooting land and lobbed a wrister, positioned in the crease, Horvat deflected the puck past Jarry’s right elbow. The lone assist was claimed by defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Canucks forward J.T. Miller, a native of Coraopolis, capped the scoring at 17:50 of the third period with an empty net score. Assists went to defensemen Tyler Myers and Guillaume Brisebois.
Jarry made 24 saves on 28 shots as his record fell to 4-2-0.
Martin, an eighth-year professional with all of 11 NHL games on his resume, stopped 34 of 35 shots to earn his first win of the season (1-0-1).
Notes:
• Rust (277 points) surpassed forward Dan Quinn (276) for 28th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• The Penguins’ scratches were forwards Jake Guentzel (suspected head injury), Jason Zucker (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (healthy).
• Martin was the fourth backup goaltender that started a game against the Penguins in eight contests this season. They had previously faced Brian Elliott of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 15, Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 17 and Cal Petersen of the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 20.