It is not just the Pittsburgh Penguins returning home Monday to face the Dallas Stars. Goaltender Tristan Jarry is also coming back.
The Penguins sent down their former top netminder, who led the league with six shutouts last season, to AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 24 after he struggled mightily on the ice. In three games with the top club, Jarry yielded 12 goals on just 73 shots. He stayed on the ice less than 12 minutes in his last game with the Penguins, giving up three goals on just five shots against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 16, a game that Pittsburgh rallied to win 6-5 in overtime.
Jarry went 4-1 in five games in the AHL with a 2.16 goals-against average. He told reporters Sunday that he appreciated being able to play consecutive games.
Whether he gets that chance immediately with Pittsburgh, which earned three points on its three-game road trip, will be up to coach Mike Sullivan. The longtime leader behind the bench now has three goalies from which to choose. While praising Jarry, he did not say whether he’d immediately come back to the No. 1 position.
“I think one of the potential benefits of it is, one of them will have an opportunity to get quality practice time if that particular goalie isn’t backing up,” Sullivan told reporters Sunday. “For example, this week, we got four games this week. There’s a lot of opportunity there.”
Pittsburgh capped its road trip with a 4-2 win Friday over the rival Washington Capitals.
The Stars, meanwhile, are finally getting back into the swing of things after playing two games in Finland against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to start the month. They had five days off before the two-game, two-day series, and then another four days off before beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Thursday.
On Saturday, Dallas lost 4-1 at Winnipeg, which has lost only once in 15 games this season.
Much like the two games in Finland, which the Stars lost to the Panthers, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Saturday’s game was also a chance to see where his team ranks among Cup contenders.
Winnipeg jumped out to a 4-0 lead with more than 12 minutes left in the second period. DeBoer pulled netminder Jake Oettinger midway through the game after giving up the four goals on just 15 shots.
“I think so,” DeBoer told reporters after the loss. “I think when you look at these guys and Florida, you know, they’ve exposed us, and we’ve got to be a lot better. I think we’ve beaten the teams we should beat, but when we’ve had opportunities to play the top teams in the league, we haven’t risen to the occasion.”
The game will also be a showcase for some of the top veteran scorers in the league. Stars center Matt Duchene, 33, leads the team with seven goals and 15 points. Right behind him in goals with six is 32-year-old Tyler Seguin.
For Pittsburgh, the ageless duo of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby continues to lead the way. Malkin, 38, leads the team with 13 assists and 18 points. Crosby, 37, is tied with Rickard Rakell to lead the team with six goals. Crosby also ranks second on the team with 16 points.
