Jarry's early brilliance allows Penguins to gain point after bad start

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Bryan Rust said without Tristan Jarry, "it's probably four or five to nothing after the first period" Saturday night after the Penguins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

That might be a little generous ... toward the Penguins. After an ugly start that began only seconds into the game and led to a number of odd-man rushes against, they could have found themselves into a much bigger hole than four, five goals. Jarry's the reason that the game didn't get out of hand early, and he kept the Penguins in the game until they could turn things around and force overtime.

The breakaway Sebastian Aho got less than 20 seconds into the game was an early sign of how Jarry's night was going to look. Sidney Crosby turned the puck over to Teuvo Teravainen in the Carolina end, and Teravainen sprung Aho on the breakaway. Jarry gloved it down:

Not even a minute later, Jarry added this sliding stop on Brett Pesce:

"They had some really glorious chances," Bryan Rust said. "(Jarry) kept us in there and he allowed us to make that push."

The Penguins managed to slow the bleeding as the period went on, but Jarry was still kept busy. The Hurricanes outshot the Penguins 16-10 through 20 minutes. Of the 13 high-danger attempts the Penguins allowed throughout the game, nine came in the first period alone. 

I asked Kris Letang afterward what he thinks led to the Penguins' start.

"Hesitation," Letang told me. "Maybe the size or importance of the game, knowing that it's a rival. Big points are at stake, especially the position we're in right now. They came hard at us, they had the building going early. It just seemed like we were on our heels."

Only two of the 16 shots managed to get by Jarry in the opening period, and they weren't exactly soft goals to give up. The first was a Pesce shot that hit the glove of Lars Eller on the way in and changed direction:

The other came from Jordan Martinook, picking up his own rebound in the crease:

On paper, the Penguins' first period didn't look as bad as it was. A two-goal deficit with 40 minutes left in regulation is hardly insurmountable.

"He was good," Letang said of Jarry's play at the start. "It stayed a two-goal game instead of going three or four goals. He did a really good job of keeping us in the game."

"(Jarry) played great," said Erik Karlsson. "Obviously tonight, as everybody could tell, was not our best. Especially in the first period, coming away only being down two was very fortunate. And I think we grew as the game progressed, but at the same time, you kind of dug yourself a hole."

The Penguins responded well after that first intermission. Through the next two periods they outshot the Hurricanes 30-18 and evened the score after a third-period Jake Guentzel goal off a setup from Crosby, followed by a 6-on-5 goal from Rust in the final minute.

One problem persisted despite the comeback -- odd-man rushes against. While there were fewer as the game went on, the Penguins finished regulation with at least 10 allowed, and Jarry kept them all out. 

"The only facet that troubled me was the amount of odd-man rushes we gave up," Mike Sullivan said. "They happened in different ways."

Jarry finished the game with 32 saves on 35 shots. He kept the game within reach enough for the Penguins to force overtime, though the Penguins couldn't close out the game. Pesce's shot that beat Jarry was the only shot of the 1:41 overtime, giving the Hurricanes the extra point in the standings. But that one point gained from just making it to overtime was huge in the Metropolitan Division standings. It brought the Penguins to 46 points, keeping them two points back of the Islanders for the last wild card spot with a game still in hand. 

"It was a big point for us," Karlsson said. "It was a point that I think somewhat we deserve. But at the same time, Jars gave us the chance to even be in that position."

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PNC Arena:

1. Brett Pesce, Hurricanes D
2. Antti Raanta, Hurricanes G
3. Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes C

THE IN-GAME INJURIES

• Penguins: Noel Acciari was an unexpected late scratch, and Sullivan said afterward that he was day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Colin White, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier in the day, took Acciari's place on the fourth line.

• Hurricanes: None

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Drew O'Connor - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Radim Zohorna - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins - Jeff Carter - Colin White

Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves - Chad Ruhwedel

And for Rod Brind'Amour's Hurricanes:

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen
Michael Bunting - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Stefan Noesen
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
Brendan Lemieux - Jack Drury - Jesper Fast

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Sjkei - Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins practice at noon in Cranberry on Sunday. Next game is Monday against the Kraken at PPG Paints Arena. The start time for that one was moved from 6:08 to 1:08 in order to be done by the time the Steelers' game in Orchard Park, N.Y., starts at 4:30.

THE FEED

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