The Penguins are in no position to give Tristan Jarry his own personal training camp at the moment. He can work out his issues on the side, not in actual games, which he seems to have trouble finishing, anyway.
These games are big. It’s basically playoff time. Casey DeSmith has earned the net at least for Thursday night’s game at Madison Square Garden. If he plays well — and he’s mostly been playing well for more than a month — give him another and go from there.
We all know how goaltending issues ebb and flow. Two weeks from now, the landscape could look completely different.
During the two Cup runs, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was labeled a “Matt Murray guy,” but let the record show that he replaced Murray with Marc-Andre Fleury for Game 5 of the 2016 Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning, with the series tied 2-2. If Fleury had played well, he might have played all through the Cup Final.
Sullivan has never been shy about switching goalies in the weighty moments, so long as he has viable choices. DeSmith is more than viable at the moment, having posted a .915 save percentage in February followed by a .942 mark so far this month. He has rescued or nearly rescued the Penguins from horrendous Jarry outings more than once in that span.
My quarrel with the Penguins re-signing DeSmith last summer wasn’t centered on DeSmith’s ability, but rather his availability. If he’d been available for the last two postseasons, I’m convinced the Penguins would have beaten the Islanders and the Rangers.
The Penguins didn’t even need good goaltending to win those series. Just something other than tragic goaltending. Even average would have been good. Instead, they got minor league performances, one year from Jarry and the next from a literal minor leaguer in Louis Domingue (although it was Jarry who posted the Penguins’ worst single-game save percentage in that series when he returned for Game 7).
I have a number here, a rather startling one, before we move on. It is DeSmith’s career save percentage compared to Jarry’s:
Jarry: .914
DeSmith: .913.
Jarry has started 187 games, DeSmith 111. This season, the two are separated by a mere two percentage points (Jarry at .910, DeSmith at .908), and DeSmith’s advanced numbers, while not great, are markedly better than Jarry’s. DeSmith has been the vastly better player of late.
Everybody has been the better goalie of late compared to Jarry.
I’m not sure what’s going on with Jarry, and I feel like we say that too much. Injuries continue to plague him. One day he is playing well, the next he is declared too ill to start but somehow still OK to back up DeSmith. One day he appears to be moving well in the nets, the next he looks like Ben Roethlisberger in his final season, making you wonder if the report of a “chronic hip issue” is accurate.
The theory on playing Jarry no matter what seems to go like this: If you’re going to make a serious playoff run, he needs to be right.
OK, I agree. But DeSmith is perfectly capable of winning a series — and how about get to the playoffs first?
How about reward the guy who is playing well and who gives you the best chance to win right now?
You had to know something wasn’t right when Jarry wasn’t ready after the nine-day All-Star break. Since then, his bad games have outnumbered the good ones, bottoming out Tuesday when the Montreal Canadiens connected on four of their first seven shots from the field. There were breakdowns in front of Jarry, yes, but that’s why you have an allegedly elite goalie.
Speaking of which, this is a contract year for Jarry. He’s about to turn 28. I love his talent, and he has won his share of games. But in many ways, he has yet to stake his claim as franchise goalie. This feels like a vital stretch for his future, here or elsewhere.
“We’re trying to get him up to speed here on the fly,” Sullivan said after Tuesday’s loss to the sickly Canadiens. “And it’s a bit of a challenge.”
Two weeks from now, maybe two days from now, everything could change. That’s just the nature of the position. Tonight, though, the clear choice is DeSmith.
He’s earned it.
Joe Starkey: jstarkey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @joestarkey1. Joe Starkey can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: March 16, 2023, 1:29 p.m.
Updated: March 16, 2023, 6:34 p.m.
