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Penguins' Tristan Jarry Nearly Perfect Since NHL Return

Unexpectedly, the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting stout work from goalie Tristan Jarry.

Nick Horwat

Mar 13, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) and goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) and defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) and center Blake Lizotte (46) celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Mar 13, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) and goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) and defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) and center Blake Lizotte (46) celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The 2024-25 NHL season has been rough on 29-year-old goalie Tristan Jarry and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a team, the Penguins are dead last in the Metropolitan Division, likely facing down their third straight playoff absence.

Jarry, meanwhile, recently returned to the NHL after a stint with the Penguins’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate to improve his game. Before being sent to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Jarry had an 8-8-4 record with a .884 save percentage.

At the AHL level, Jarry played in 12 games with a 6-5-1 record and .908 save percentage. Those numbers still feel well below where a $5.375 million former NHL All-Star should be at the minor league level, but the Penguins had nothing much left to lose, so he was promoted back to the NHL roster.

Since returning to the NHL, as the Penguins playoffs hopes seemed pretty dead in the water, Jarry has been near perfect.

In three games played, Jarry has led the Penguins to three straight wins while making 97 saves on 103 shots faced. Jarry has backstopped the Penguins on the way to defeating top NHL teams like the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights as well as the St. Louis Blues who are grappling for playoff position in the West.

The Penguins defense has been subpar all season, leaving the goalies to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Post trade deadline, the Penguins didn’t move out any notable defensemen, but the blue line has taken a much different shape from the start of the season.

Vladislav Kolyachonok is playing on the first pairing with Kris Letang and Connor Timmins has taken up duties on the bottom pairing.

These new faces haven’t mitigated the amount of shots getting through to Jarry, but he’s been making all of the necessary stops.

No one expected this from Jarry considering the start to the season he had, but so far, he’s found ways to help the Penguins win. Even if the playoffs are a long shot, the Penguins must be happy with Jarry’s ability to rekindle what made him great in the first place.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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