Sidney Crosby scores twice, Tristan Jarry secures shutout as Penguins stop streaking Kraken

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry’s postgame plans involved hurrying home to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers, but first, his team put together a defensive effort that might have made members of the old Steel Curtain smile.

Jarry turned away all 22 shots, and Sidney Crosby scored twice in a defensive-minded 3-0 victory Monday afternoon that cooled off the Seattle Kraken, who arrived at PPG Paints Arena on a nine-game winning streak.

More importantly, the win let the Penguins snap their own two-game losing streak and made Jarry a winner for the first time in four starts. The goalie had lost in overtime twice this week, but this time didn’t allow a shot past him.

The shutout was his fifth.

“Our game plan coming in was to make sure we keep the chances to a minimum, make sure we keep the rushes to a minimum,” Jarry said. “I think we did a really good job of that tonight. It really helps our game when we’re doing that.”

Drew O’Connor and Crosby scored early in the second period, and that was enough for Jarry, who won for the first time since Dec. 30. Crosby added an empty-netter with 2 minutes, 21 seconds left in the third, sealing the win with his 26th goal of the season.

Jarry’s record improved to 12-12-4.

He had played well enough to win in recent games — including stopping 32 shots in Saturday’s overtime loss — but his teammates made an obvious effort to better limit his workload in this one. The Kraken had shot totals of six, nine and seven in the three periods, and there were few high-percentage chances among them.

“I liked our intent,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought our intentions were in the right place. When we play the game that way, it’s a collective effort, it’s a team game. Everybody understands what their role is, and you play it. When our intentions are in the right place and our willingness to play the game a certain way, I think we can be hard to play against. I thought we were tonight.”

The game was scheduled for Monday night but was moved to the afternoon to avoid overlapping with the Steelers playoff game. As a result, the Penguins had an unusual 1 p.m. start on a Monday, but Jarry said he didn’t mind.

“I love the 1 o’clock games,” he said. “I think they’re perfect. It’s a great time. It’s nice. You just get up and get to go.”

The Penguins improved to 21-15-6.

They avoided the early struggles they faced in their past two games, when they fell behind 2-0 to Vancouver and Carolina. This time, they played a solid first period, even though it ended scoreless.

“I thought we started off strong,” Jarry said. “Obviously, that’s something we talked about the last couple of games was just having a better start. We were able to do that tonight. We were able to forecheck and get them in deep in their zone. When we’re spending a lot more time in their zone, it helps our game.”

After a scoreless first period, the Penguins tallied twice in opening four minutes of the second.

O’Connor broke the shutout 49 seconds into the period by finishing a two-on-one rush with an assist from Bryan Rust, and Crosby buried a one-timer at the 3:32 mark for a 2-0 lead. The goals were O’Connor’s sixth and Crosby’s 25th. His 26th came later.

Rust was skating along the left boards, drew the defender and flipped a back-handed pass to O’Connor, who beat Kraken goalie Joey Daccord inside the right post.

“There wasn’t much there to kind of get that puck through, so I was a little surprised he got it through,” said O’Connor, who had a team-high five shots. “But it was a perfect pass.”

Evgeni Malkin earned a second assist on O’Connor’s goal.

Minutes later, Crosby took a pass from Kris Letang, dropped to one knee and snapped a shot from the right circle. Letang and Rickard Rakell earned assists on Crosby’s first goal. Rakell and Erik Karlsson assisted on his empty netter.

This was Crosby’s second two-goal game in less than a week. His four shots Monday raised his season total to 152, which puts him on pace for one of the higher single-season totals.

“It’s just him reading the game,” said Sullivan, adding that there hasn’t been any message from the coaches to shoot more. “Quite honestly, we try to stay out of his way. He thinks it way better than we do. Sid takes what the game gives him. When the (opportunities) are there to make a play, he does.”

The Penguins killed off two Seattle power plays, including one early in the third period. But even with a man-advantage, the Kraken found few easy scoring chances.

That was a change from recent games. In their nine-game winning streak, the Kraken outscored opponents 32-13.

“This is a team that has had tremendous success over the last month,” Sullivan said. “I thought we played a complete game. It was ‘low event,’ but that’s the game I think sets us up for success.”

Notes:

• The Penguins have gone 15 power plays without scoring a goal. The team finished 0 for 2 with a man-advantage Monday, extending a streak that started against the Flyers four games ago.

• The Penguins honored former defenseman Brian Dumoulin with a video tribute on the arena scoreboard during a break in the first period. Dumoulin, who is in his first season with the Kraken, played parts of 10 with the Penguins and was a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He ranks fifth all-time in games played among Penguins defensemen.

• Center Noel Acciari returned to the lineup. He was a late scratch from Saturday’s loss with an upper-body injury.

• Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel left late in Monday’s game with an apparent injury. Sullivan said he had no update on Ruhwedel’s status.