Penguins' Tristan Jarry beats Wild in 1st NHL game since January

Appearing in his first NHL contest in nearly two months, Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made 30 saves on 31 shots in a 3-1 win against Minnesota Wild on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The result boosted his record to 9-8-4 and snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) for his team.

Before Sunday, Jarry’s most recent appearance at the NHL level came Jan. 14 in a 4-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken when he made 14 saves on 17 shots. After clearing waivers on Jan. 16, Jarry was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and was primarily stationed with that team before being recalled to the NHL roster on March 3.

“Obviously, it felt really good,” Jarry said to reporters in St. Paul via audio provided by the team’s media relations staff. “It was nice to come back with a game like that.”

In the other net, Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 19 of 21 shots as his mark slipped to 12-8-1.

This was presumably the final time Fleury will face his former team, as he announced plans to retire after the season.

The Penguins selected the future member of the Hockey Hall of Fame with the top overall selection in the 2003 NHL Draft. He spent the first 13 years of his NHL career with the Penguins and holds most of the franchise’s goaltending records.

Penguins forward Tommy Novak, in his second game with the club since being acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, suffered an undisclosed injury and did not record a shift beyond the 7-minute, 24-second mark of the third period. Beyond a posting on one of the team’s social media outlets, there was no substantive word on his status.

After a scoreless first period, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin broke the ice 15:22 into the second period with his 13th goal during a power-play sequence.

Corralling a puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk dealt a pass to the opposite point for defenseman Kris Letang. Maneuvering forward slightly, Letang fed the puck to the right of the cage, where Malkin redirected a shot on net. Fleury made the initial save but allowed a rebound that Malkin chopped under Fleury’s left leg. Letang and Grzelcyk had assists.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Evgeni Malkin with 04:38 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Kris Letang and Matt Grzelcyk.

Minnesota: 0
Pittsburgh: 1#PITvsMIN #mnwild #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/Fq1OqB3HUQ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 9, 2025

The visitors struck again when forward Sidney Crosby scored his 20th goal at 9:21 of the third period.

Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson sauntered his way deep into the near circle and snapped a wrister on the cage that Fleury booted out. The ensuing rebound caromed to the opposite circle, where Crosby immediately pitchforked an awkward, off-balance forehand shot back at the cage. Fleury tried to snag the shot, but the puck glanced off his glove and floated into the net on the far side. Karlsson and forward Rickard Rakell registered assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 10:39 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell.

Minnesota: 0
Pittsburgh: 2#PITvsMIN #mnwild #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/pl0JkEM5lV

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 9, 2025

“That was nice to see that one go in,” Crosby said to reporters in St. Paul. “Hopefully, some bragging rights for a while with that one.”

Forward Ryan Hartman accounted for the Wild’s lone offensive showing of the day when he scored his eighth goal at 14:54 of the third during a power-play sequence.

After Penguins forward Bryan Rust broke up a pass attempt in the neutral zone by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, Hartman gathered the errant puck, gained the offensive zone on the left wing and lasered a wrister from the left circle past Jarry’s blocker on the near side. Assists went to Spurgeon and forward Marcus Johansson.

Power play goal for Minnesota!

Scored by Ryan Hartman with 05:06 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Jared Spurgeon and Marcus Johansson.

Minnesota: 1
Pittsburgh: 2#PITvsMIN #mnwild #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/Ie4mjaxQbU

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 9, 2025

Crosby capped the scoring with an empty-netter at 18:47 of the final frame. Jarry had the lone assist.

Empty net goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 01:13 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Tristan Jarry.

Minnesota: 1
Pittsburgh: 3#PITvsMIN #mnwild #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/en2oJGffzJ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 9, 2025

Notes:

• Forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Conor Timmins each made their debuts for the Penguins after being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

Dewar opened the contest on left wing of the third line. In 12:52 of ice time on 21 shifts (including 2:52 short-handed), Dewar had two shot attempts and blocked one shot.

Timmins was stationed on the right side of the third pairing. Logging 11:49 of ice time on 19 shifts (including 3:15 short-handed), Timmins had one shot on one attempt.

• Dewar became the 24th player to wear No. 19 in a game of consequence for the franchise. His predecessors (via PittsburghHockey.net):

Bob Rivard, Jean Pronovost, Dale Tallon, Gregg Sheppard, Rick MacLeish, Grant Sasser, Arto Javananien, Willy Lindstrom, Dave McLlwain, Randy Gilhen, Bryan Trottier, Vladimir Vujtek, Rico Fata, Ramzi Abid, Ryan Whitney, Mike Comrie, Jason Williams, Beau Bennett, Derick Brassard, Jared McCann, Alex Nylander, Reilly Smith, Cody Glass

• Timmins became the 33rd player to wear No. 20 in a game of consequence for the franchise. His predecessors:

Ab McDonald, Bob Woytowich, Dean Prentice, Robin Burns, John Stewart, George Swarbrick, Steve Cardwell, Yvon Labre, Jacques Cossette, Yves Bergeron, Pete Mahovlich, Paul Marshall, Paul Gardner, Gary Rissling, Moe Mantha, Dave Hunter, Dave Hannan, Jamie Leach, Jeff Daniels, Luc Robitaille, Bryan Smolinski, Greg Johnson, Roman Oksiuta, Robert Lang, Mathias Johansson, Mike Eastwood, Colby Armstrong, Janne Pesonen, Rob Klinkhammer, Frank Corrado, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Lars Eller

• Karlsson (102 points) surpassed forwards Nick Harbaruk and Warren Young (101 each) for sole possession of 94th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Jarry’s last NHL victory came in a 7-3 home win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 23. He made 24 saves on 27 shots in that contest.

• Jarry recorded the third assist by a Penguins goaltender this season. Alex Nedeljkovic has the other two.

• Oddly enough, Jarry’s most recent assist before Sunday came against the Wild. He had a secondary assist on a power-play goal by Crosby during a 6-4 road win on Nov. 17, 2022.

• Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves and forward Danton Heinen were healthy scratches.