The Pittsburgh Penguins made a mistake not addressing goaltending last summer
The Athletic’s Rob Rossi joined Daily Faceoff Live on Monday to discuss the Penguins’ goaltending situation ahead of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Penguins sit second in the wild-card race, but can they hold off challenges from Florida and Buffalo down the stretch with Tristan Jarry leading the way?
Tyler Yaremchuk: How big of a storyline will goaltending be? I mean, you look at the numbers. (Tristan) Jarry has been a little bit better on the season as a whole, but kind of like Matt Murray, has struggled with injuries at points this season. What is Mike Sullivan going to do between the pipes? Is this Tristan Jarry’s crease, or is it truly still up for grabs?
Rob Rossi: It’s Jarry’s crease as long as he can move side to side and get up and down. But the problem is it’s a period-to-period thing there. He’s dealing with three separate injuries this year. I think we all believe he’s dealing with some sort of hip element that’s contributing to these injuries. Jarry just hasn’t been healthy since when he first got injured in the Winter Classic against the Boston Bruins.
He hasn’t been someone you could depend on. I think they probably need him for these final five games, and I guess he would be the starter for the final five games. He’s been pulled four times in the last four weeks.
We’ve seen him go into the crease in certain games and just look like he’s not able to do the basic things you would need a goaltender to do. It’s been very frustrating for the Penguins because they don’t really have a sense of which guy they’re going to get.
It’s why I’ve been writing and, and saying that, it was a gross error, one of many, I believe by this management team to depend on Jarry and Casey DeSmith, again this season when you have been let down by that tandem in two consecutive post-seasons, whether it’s because of performance or injury. But now it’s kind of a combination of performance and injury that has put the Penguins in a precarious situation and they often play like a team that chases chances because they don’t feel like their goaltenders can make enough stops. They’re not the most disciplined defensive team to begin with, so I think it’s going to be all about goaltending in the final five games.