With goaltender Tristan Jarry sidelined again, Penguins fall to Stars
Share this post:
The Pittsburgh Penguins are most certainly paying attention to other games in the NHL.
After all, they haven’t played well enough to this point of the 2022-23 season to afford themselves the luxury of indifference to the rest of the league.
“Everybody scoreboard watches a little bit this time of year,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. “It’s human nature. But we’re focusing on what we can control in our game.”
At the moment, the durability of top goaltender Tristan Jarry is not within their control.
An undisclosed injury prompted Jarry to be scratched for a 3-2 loss against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday. Backup Casey DeSmith, as scheduled, got the start and made 30 saves on 33 shots, dropping his record to 13-15-4.
This marks the latest setback for Jarry, whose 2022-23 season has been pockmarked with various undisclosed ailments. Including Thursday, Jarry has missed 17 games this season.
Jarry’s latest malady comes off the heels of one of his more impressive performances as of late. On Wednesday, Jarry made 28 saves in a 5-2 road win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
As for scoreboard watching, the Penguins liked what they saw Thursday night. The Penguins (35-27-10, 80 points) maintained a hold on the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Florida Panthers (36-29-7, 79 points).
On Thursday, the Panthers were trounced at home by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2.
Stars forward Roope Hintz opened the scoring 8:45 into regulation with his 33rd goal of the campaign 8:45 off a perfectly executed passing sequence.
From near the left wing boards of his own zone, Stars defenseman Colin Miller snapped a forehand pass into the neutral zone. Just in front of the Penguins’ blue line, Stars forward Jason Robertson deadened the puck, allowing Hintz to claim it with momentum and gain the offensive zone with speed. Streaking past flat-footed Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel and forward Josh Archibald, Hintz attacked the cage and shuffled a wrister through DeSmith’s five hole. Robertson and Miller had assists.
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby tied the game, 1-1, with his 31st goal four minutes into the second period.
From the Penguins left circle, forward Jake Guentzel stole the puck off of the stick of Stars forward Ty Dellandrea and initiated an offensive rush. After gaining the far blue line on the right wing, Guentzel dealt a pass above the right circle to linemate Bryan Rust, who immediately fed it back to Guentzel along the wall. From there, Guentzel moved the puck to the slot for on-rushing Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman, who missed on a one-timer attempt but still managed to direct the puck to the left of the net, where Crosby one-touched a forehand shot over goaltender Jake Oettinger’s right leg. Friedman and Guentzel netted assists.
A power-play score by forward Joe Pavelski restored a lead for the hosts at 9:49 of the third period.
Accepting a pass at the center point of the offensive zone, Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen snapped a shot/pass low in the crease, where Pavelski re-directed the puck with the face of his stick blade past the right skate of DeSmith for his 21st goal. Assists went to Heiskanen and Robertson.
The Stars took a 3-1 lead only 96 seconds later when forward Jamie Benn capitalized on a rebound scramble resulting in his 31st goal.
Coasting into the offensive zone on the left wing, Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov dished a pass to the left circle for Stars forward Max Domi, who pumped a one-timer on net. After DeSmith made the initial save, Benn claimed the rebound in the slot and fired a wrister past DeSmith’s glove. Domi and Dadonov registered assists.
The Penguins persisted and pulled back within one at 13:43 of the third when rookie defenseman P.O Joseph scored his fifth goal.
Off a pass from Penguins forward Danton Heinen, Joseph strode in from the blue line and released a wrister from above the left circle that beat Oettinger’s glove before clunking into the cage off the crossbar. Penguins forward Mikael Granlund supplied an effective screen on the sequence. Assists were credited to Heinen and linemate Ryan Poehling.
Notes:
• With Jarry unavailable, the Penguins recalled goaltender Dustin Tokarski from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions. Officially, Tokarski was part of the Penguins lineup to start the game. In reality, he was unable to physically join the team until the second period, according to broadcaster ESPN, due to the logistical issues of traveling from Northeast Pennsylvania to North Texas.
• Forward Filip Hallander was also recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton under emergency conditions on Thursday afternoon. Once it was confirmed incumbent forwards Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker would be able-bodied enough to dress Thursday, Hallander was officially reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just before the game started.
• In addition to Jarry, the Penguins scratched defenseman Jeff Petry (suspected head injury), Jan Rutta (undisclosed injury) and forward Alex Nylander (healthy).
• Crosby’s goal was his first in 11 career road games against the Stars and allowed him to claim a goal in all 31 active opposing markets in the NHL.