Tristan Jarry's small step forward, Sidney Crosby's frustration: 3 Penguins takeaways

PITTSBURGH — Their season seemingly on the verge of collapsing before Thanksgiving, there was a bright spot for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night: Tristan Jarry.

Yes, that Tristan Jarry.

The same goalie who was booed by fans at PPG Paints Arena in warmups earlier in the week. The same goalie who was sent on a two-week conditioning stint in the AHL when he was healthy. The same goalie who has given up four first-shot goals.

That goalie was the Penguins’ best player against the Jets.

Faint praise? Possibly.

But when a team is on a 2-4-2 slide that is part of a 4-8-4 freefall, any semblance of something positive feels bigger than it probably is in reality.

Jarry conceded after this loss it was “tough” to surrender another opening-shot goal, but he sounded encouraged that he “kept battling.” If Jarry can turn it into one, that would be no small trend to develop. Something coaches want to see more of from Jarry is not falling to pieces if something goes against him early.

And what went against him early was a fluky sequence.

Exactly how we wanted to start this road trip 😤 pic.twitter.com/cvQXP6veun

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 23, 2024

“It happens a thousand different ways,” coach Mike Sullivan said of the six first-shot goals the Penguins have surrendered. “The first goal tonight — how do you explain that? Can you explain that? ’Cause I can’t.”

First shot, first goal against Penguins

Player	Time	Date	Result
Sam Carrick	2:24 (1)	Oct. 9	Loss, 6-0
Tage Thompson	0:43 (1)	Oct. 16	Win, 6-5 (OT)
Jordan Martinook	0:52 (1)	Nov. 7	Loss, 5-1
Matt Duchene	2:33 (1)	Nov. 11	Loss, 7-1
Zach Aston-Reese	2:20 (1)	Nov. 15	Loss, 6-2
Nino Niederreiter	1:22 (1)	Nov. 22	Loss, 4-1

Any chance the Penguins had to pull an upset on the Jets vanished with the opening goal against. They might not have had much of a chance anyway, but the Jets imposed their will after taking that lead.

The Penguins barely could get control of the puck. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck — scouted by Team USA general manager Bill Guerin from the arena media level — barely was made to break a sweat as the Penguins managed only 18 shots.

Conversely, Jarry faced 25 shots through a couple of periods.

A .892 save percentage is not nearly good enough for a goalie with a contract as long and a cap hit as high as Jarry. However, it is a 56-point improvement from the .836 save percentage that Jarry posted through three games before he was assigned to the AHL.

Small steps, indeed.

Steps, nonetheless.

Evgeni Malkin’s rough night

Evgeni Malkin was off to one of the finest starts to a season before the decision was made for him to play with Sidney Crosby on the top line. That move was made primarily for two reasons:

1. Bryan Rust’s injury
2. To get Crosby going

Malkin didn’t put up big numbers during his run as a top-line winger, but he played better than his production indicated. He was doing a lot of the dirty work, specifically creating space for Crosby. He never appeared comfortable.

He still doesn’t, despite having returned to his natural position, center, at his usual spot, the second line. He has only two goals and five points in 12 games, and Malkin made a couple of costly errors against the Jets.

His turnover that led to the Jets’ opening goal was egregious. His tripping penalty late in the second period wasn’t as bad and perhaps wasn’t the best call. But Malkin put himself in a bad position by waiving his stick near a player’s skates with the referee in clear view.

That call is going to get made.

It did, and the Jets scored their third goal before the Penguins’ penalty-killers could even get situated.

Malkin is guilty of trying to do too much when he’s struggling. He’s doing that a lot lately.

He’ll need to settle his game to rediscover his scoring touch — and confidence.

Frustration from Crosby

When Crosby is looking to stir the pot, things usually aren’t going well for the Penguins.

With the Penguins trailing, 3-0, in the first minute of the third period, Crosby delivered a cross-check to the lower back of the Jets’ Kyle Connor. Punches were thrown, though nothing escalated otherwise.

Sidney Crosby dropped the gloves to fight Kyle Connor 😳💥

🎥 @BR_OpenIce pic.twitter.com/RpQ5ZRuiql

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 23, 2024

Perhaps it was a case of a captain trying to drag his overmatched team into the fight against a superior opponent. Or maybe it was some old-school blowing off of steam by Crosby, who has one goal in the last eight games.

The line between is as fine as it is fraught.

The bet here is on the latter, that Crosby was showing signs of frustration. The Penguins have never had a worse record after 22 games in Crosby’s 20 seasons.

The Vet, the rookie

Kris Letang’s return against the Jets was the headline-grabbing development, but another solid performance by Owen Pickering was most notable.

Letang had missed three consecutive games with an illness. He showed no signs of fatigue or rust against the Jets, jumping into top-pairing duty with partner Matt Grzelcyk. Letang played over 20 minutes, two of those on the penalty kill.

If Sullivan was looking for a logical opportunity to bring Ryan Graves back into the fold, re-inserting him into the lineup when Letang returned provided an opportunity. That Sullivan opted to again make Graves a healthy scratch at the expense of rookie Pickering is either a testament to the latter’s steadiness or the former’s struggles — and possibly a bit of both.

Whatever the case, Pickering has done nothing to warrant being removed. He is already the Penguins’ best net-front defenseman, and his decisions with and without the puck are sound.

“He’s a pretty positionally sound player,” Sullivan said Friday. “I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen so far.”

There isn’t much flash to Pickering’s game, making him the polar opposite of Letang. Their contrasting styles might make for a good fit if Sullivan ever wanted to get a defenseman who represents the Penguins’ future some in-game experience playing with the most accomplished defenseman in franchise history.

(Photo: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)