Perhaps I was Wrong about Tristan Jarry

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Elliot Hicks. Follow him on Twitter @Ehicks39

Let’s turn back the clock for a moment to last May. I published a story on this very site (https://www.yinzercrazy.com/can-the-pens-win-the-cup-with-tristan-jarry-in-net) that essentially flamed Penguins starting goaltender Tristan Jarry and the rest of the crew, saying that the options in goal were not good enough to win in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

I certainly can’t ignore that, at least at that moment, it was a hot take that paid off extremely well in the short term. Pittsburgh looked off in their playoff series against the New York Islanders and a terrible mistake from Jarry led to the goal that eliminated the Penguins. 

But, as we near the closing stages and playoff push of this season, I’m here with the egg on my face and a nice plate of crow in front of me that I was wrong about the men in goal for the Pens, specifically the dude wearing No. 35. 

Jarry’s performance this season has been quite strong to say the least. His 2.29 GAA sits at seventh-best in the NHL, fourth-best among goaltenders who have made at least 35 appearances. A .922 save percentage lines up about the same near the top of the NHL leaderboard. Jarry has the fourth-most wins, is tied for the third-most shutouts, and has kept the Penguins in games more often than not with some stellar moments. We can’t forget a solid performance in the All-Star Game, an environment where any sort of save is an impressive one, to lead the Metropolitan team to victory. 

While I didn’t completely write off Jarry as the best option for Pittsburgh in net, I certainly didn’t show any faith in him, and honestly the benefit of the doubt I gave him in that article I didn’t even really believe at the time.