Penguins still believe in goaltender Tristan Jarry despite rough start

Approximately a half hour after the Pittsburgh Penguins’ regulars left the ice following a morning skate in Cranberry, the team’s reserves — or projected healthy scratches — remained on the ice.

One by one, they lumbered into the dressing room, well after the likes of Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang had shed their gear and grabbed a meal.

First, it was defenseman Ryan Shea who was then followed by forward Valtteri Puustinen.

But they weren’t the last players off the ice.

That designation went to Tristan Jarry, the team’s would-be top goaltender.

He stayed on the rink and worked with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo on refining the malfunctions that have polluted his play this season.

Through three games, Jarry’s numbers are rough. His 1-1-0 record comes with an inflated goals-against average of 5.47 and a deflated save percentage of .836.

He opened Friday’s home contest against the Carolina Hurricanes as the backup to prospect-turning-best option Joel Blomqvist.

Approximately 48 hours earlier, Blomqvist, a rookie, replaced Jarry during a wild 6-5 overtime home win against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

In that contest, Jarry allowed three goals on five shots in 11 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time.

And with incumbent backup Alex Nedeljkovic activated from injured reserve Thursday and sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on a conditioning assignment, the Penguins are facing a very real (and rare) possibility of having three active goaltenders on the NHL roster and physically present as they embark on a four-game trip through the western half of Canada next week.

Coach Mike Sullivan was brief and vague on the plans with regards to Nedeljkovic, who is recuperating from an undisclosed injury he suffered in the preseason.

But he was expansive, frank and optimistic when asked to audit Jarry, the goaltender he and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas each enthusiastically endorsed in April as the Penguins’ top netminder going into the offseason.

“Obviously, we don’t have Tristan’s best right now,” Sullivan said. “But when you look at his body of work here and the years that he’s been here, there’s been a significant aspect of his game that has been strong. Part of our responsibly is to try to help (Jarry) capture his very best game. That’s what we’re trying to do. The season is young, it’s early and we’re going to do our best as a coaching staff to try to help (Jarry) get to his very best game.

“When (Jarry) is at his best, he’s a very high-quality goaltender,” Sullivan said. “He makes the timely saves that give us a chance to win. It hasn’t been the greatest start from a performance standpoint yet. But we believe in (Jarry) and his ability to be a quality goalie in this league.”

That faith is also present with regards to Blomqvist, an All-Star in the AHL last season.

Entering Friday, he had appeared in three games and had a 2-0-0 record, a 2.86 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He recorded the win Tuesday in relief of Jarry by making 26 saves on 28 shots, including a handful of breakaways.

“He’s gotten progressively better with every start that he’s had,” Sullivan said. “We were real encouraged after the first start (a 7-3 preseason loss in Buffalo on Sept. 24), which wasn’t the greatest experience. But we were so encouraged with how he reacted to that.”