The Tortoise Beats the Hare: Penguins Overtake Jets in Shootout
Thank God for Tristan Jarry. Seriously.
I wish there was a way to quantify how many wins a goaltender steals for his team. If there were, Jarry would nab the Vezina Trophy, hands-down.
It’s fair to say the Penguins missed their wakeup call for yesterday afternoon’s matinee clash with Winnipeg at PPG Paints Arena, their third game in four days. (Makes you wonder what the NHL schedule-makers are smoking, doesn’t it?) While our guys basically waddled around the ice for the first 30 minutes or so like their Antarctic name sake, the Jets countered with a plethora of 2-on-1s and odd-man breaks. About a month’s worth, by my estimation. With very little help from his lagging teammates, Jarry nearly stopped em’ all.
It reminded me of the days when the Pens routinely left Marc-Andre Fleury to fend for himself, trusting that he’d make the big saves. But I digress.
Adding injury to insult, Teddy Blueger left the game bleeding midway through the first period after having his head crunched into the glass courtesy of old friend Brendan Dillon’s shoulder. Deciding once was not enough, Jets defenseman Nathan Beaulieu performed a similar demo job on Brock McGinn in the final minute of the period.