Penguins Officially Have a Jarry Problem

On an unforgettable night in which the Pittsburgh Penguins superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin reached historic milestones, goalie Tristan Jarry had a night that would hammer at even the most obtuse goalie’s confidence.

Jarry will be the only one trying to forget it.

Just 43 seconds into the 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, Buffalo center Tage Thompson immediately stuffed Jarry’s behind-the-net giveaway into the net. Whoops. The home fans, who were already predisposed to wanting the kid, 22-year-old Joel Blomqvist, in the net, began to groan.

Three minutes into the game, defenseman Erik Karlsson didn’t make much of an effort on a puck right behind him, and Jordan Greenway had an unobstructed path to Jarry, who recoiled into the net rather than challenging the oncoming danger.

Absolutely terrible defense. Then the tough situation became impossible as Jarry allowed a second goal, just getting a piece of Greenway’s shot to the glove side. If that tally were the only goal allowed, the sentiment would have focused on Karlsson’s inexplicable matador defense. Still, it was not the only goal allowed, and the fan’s drumbeat for Jarry’s ouster had already begun. It only grew louder as the deficit widened.

“It was just a tough start for a whole team. Quite honestly, it wasn’t even close to our best game out there,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We just felt like, given the way the game started, it was the right thing to make the switch. I think Tristan was a victim of that (start) to a certain extent. He was also part of that to a certain extent.”

Mocking cheers for simple saves and merely playing the puck followed. The home crowd had already decided they were done with Jarry.

Jarry again sagged deep into the net after another mistake-filled Penguins sequence in the offensive zone resulted in a Buffalo two-on-one. JJ Peterka whistled a shot past Jarry that hit the twine and exited just as quickly as it entered.

That was three goals in 11:33, and the apple of the fans’ eye, Joel Blomqvist, entered.

The Penguins and coach Mike Sullivan now have a full-blown situation as goalie Alex Nedeljkovic took work during and after the morning skate on Wednesday. He’ll soon be ready for the team to activate him from injured reserve, and the Penguins will have three goalies, but their presumptive No. 1 is in a free fall that stretches back to last season.

Let’s not forget the biggest problem. On July 1, 2023, Jarry signed a five-year, $26.88 million deal. There have been various credible reports of the Penguins listening or softly making him available on the NHL trade block for the past couple of seasons. Alas, Jarry’s trade value has evaporated with the rising heat of each benching.

In 12 months, Jarry has gone from being mentioned as a candidate for the 2026 Canadian Olympic team to a freefall, placing him on track not for the national team but for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

When Nedeljkovic is ready, can the Penguins really afford to demote Blomqvist–clearly one of their two best goalies–to WBS? Just 12 hours earlier, that seemed a fait accompli. Rewind to last Sunday–Sullivan bristled at Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s question about the message to Jarry by starting Blomqvist against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, which was Blomqvist’s second straight start.

Jarry earned the win Monday, making numerous difficult saves against the Montreal Canadiens at Centre Bell. He seemed to have plugged the situation, but 48 hours later, it exploded like dropping a pack of Mentos into a two-liter bottle of Coke.

Jarry was not available after the Monday or Wednesday games. However, on Wednesday, Blomqvist couldn’t hide his excitement at helping the team on a night no one will forget. It’s just his second season in North America, and the young goalie had the best season in the house watching a pair of legends do their cap-wearing hero thing one more time.

“I felt pretty good in this game (that) I had a chance to play,” said Blomqvist. “And I think it comes just from the everyday work you do in practice. I work hard and get a good feel in practice. I think that’s the key.”

For the record, his first name is pronounced Yo-El, even though many around the team simply call him Joel. It seems that proper pronunciation will become a necessary bit of information very soon. In three appearances, including two starts, Blomqvist has a 2-1-0 record and a .913 save percentage.

Ordinarily, a starting goalie having a couple of bad games to begin a season wouldn’t make headlines. But Jarry is different. He was essentially landed on the goalie-watch list last season when Sullivan tapped Nedeljkovic for the final 13.5 games, for most of which Jarry was healthy and able to play.

The Penguins went on an 8-1-3 tear with Nedeljkovic before losing the meaningless final game of the season against the New York Islanders. Nedeljkovic appeared in the final 14 games of the season after relieving Jarry against the Dallas Stars on March 22.

New season, clean slate? Nope. The carryover has been palpable, and if Sullivan says we’re overthinking it, no, Sullivan’s actions speak louder than the PPG Paints Arena crowd. Jarry has finished only two of his four starts dating back to last season while riding the bench in 15 of the last 18 games, also dating back to last season, which is another stinging indictment.

Jarry faceplanted against the New York Rangers in the first game of the season. He gave up a few stoppable goals before finding his groove in the second and third periods of a 6-0 loss. He likely would have been pulled if not for Sullivan saving Blomqvist for the game the following night against Detroit.

If Jarry had not been a spectator for the most important games last season, this story would be at the beginning, if it existed at all. But last season happened, and the wound has festered.

Sullivan will likely downplay any further questions about the situation; he has no choice but to begin a salvage operation for Jarry’s lost confidence because Jarry’s trade value has most likely crossed into negative territory, meaning it would take Penguins GM Kyle Dubas’s inclusion of additional assets to move him.

Returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a two-year absence remains the goal, and the Penguins learned the hard lesson last season that games in October and November indeed matter. Another couple of wins in early-season contests that got away would have changed their fate. The team knows it can’t punt away games now, assuming they’ll make up the ground later. The NHL standings are too close, and the team is no longer significantly better than everyone else.

Jarry remains perhaps the most talented goalie of the three netminders, but stopping pucks is the job, and he’s at war with the position. Conversely, Blomqvist’s performances have declared him ready to play in the NHL.

Big-picture issues complicate the matter, but the bottom line is the Penguins, Sullivan, and Dubas now have a Jarry problem.