BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tristan Jarry is undefeated as the Penguins’ No. 1 goalie.
Hasn’t allowed a goal, either.
OK, so those numbers probably won’t hold for the duration of Matt Murray’s lower-body injury, but what Jarry did Friday in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center, stopping all 34 shots he faced, was certainly impressive.
“I’m sure it’s a great thrill for him to get a shutout,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought he played really well throughout the course of the game. He made some timely saves for us. He’s a real good goalie when he’s locked in. He certainly was that [Friday].”
The Penguins have won three in a row, and Jarry has earned each of the victories. Coincidence? Hmm ...
It will be interesting to see what Sullivan does Saturday against the Sabres at home. Does he stick with Jarry or turn to backup Casey DeSmith?
The saves Jarry had to make Friday didn’t carry the highest degree of difficulty, but they weren’t gimmes, either.
How about the two right pad stops on Sam Reinhart midway through the second?
Or the backhander he turned aside from Kris Criscuolo early in the third?
He also grabbed a Nathan Beaulieu attempt with his catching glove late and had to scramble a few times to keep the puck out of his net.
“It’s something we worked on in practice,” Jarry said of the net-front battles. “We worked on those desperation saves and being able to maybe stop one or two of those if maybe they were to happen in a game.”
They did, and he did. As a result, Patric Hornqvist was handing Jarry another puck.
Jarry said that Hornqvist presented him with the puck after his first NHL win and did the same Friday.
“It’s pretty cool that he’s done that for me twice,” Jarry said.
“We’re pretty close. He helps me in practice. He’s always the one to do the goalie skates with us. It’s nice that he did that for me.”
Jarry deflected every ounce of credit for this win. His teammates got the puck deep to help preserve the shutout. The Penguins played with a lead. Mike Buckley did a great job coaching.
None of that is wrong, of course, but Jarry deserves credit for this performance. He was solid when he needed to be and has really stabilized what had been a volatile position — backup goaltender — for the Penguins in the early going.
“It’s obviously pretty exciting,” Jarry said. “I think the team did a great job in front of me. ‘Buck’ really helped me prepare. I think that’s a big thing for me, preparing in practice and being able to play in games.”
Couple more things about Jarry.
Crosby has been asked about Jarry quite a bit recently, and one of the first things he has cited is how hard Jarry competes, that the kid cares.
“He’s calm, but he competes really hard,” Crosby said Friday. “I think that’s something you can tell right away. He reads the play really well. Then there are times where, as a goalie, there’s no way to really draw it up. You just have to find a way to compete in there and find loose pucks, find a way to get something on them. He did that again [Friday]. He’s been doing that since he’s been playing here. It’s great to see him having success.”
The second thing here is the inevitable comparison to Murray. They really are similar. And the more we see of Jarry, the more he looks like Murray.
Smart goalie. Can, as Crosby said, read the play. Loves to challenge shooters. Confident in himself. He might not express it in his public comments, but Jarry plays with a little bit of a swagger.
“They have some guys who can make plays,” Crosby said. “They did [Friday]. He made some big saves for us.”
Kuhnhackl can score
Tom Kuhnhackl put up 39 goals in 63 games with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL in 2010-11, so scoring pretty goals isn’t completely foreign to him.
“Hard to believe, but I actually did that a couple years ago in the OHL,” Kuhnhackl said after scoring a pretty, penalty-shot goal against the Sabres. “I used to score goals. I’m just glad the puck found the back of the net.”
The goal was the first for Kuhnhackl in 27 games this season. Not that he’s counting or anything.
“It feels nice,” Kuhnhackl said. “If you go 20-plus games without scoring a goal, you squeeze your stick a little tighter. After this game, I’m just glad that this puck found the back of the net.”
Three more for the road
Sidney Crosby has scored in 26 of his past 28 games against the Sabres. In his last 16 games, he’s 8-22–30. In his last nine games in Buffalo, he’s 6-13–19.
Penguins have earned points in 14 straight games against the Sabres, going 13-0-1 during that stretch.
The last time the Penguins scored on a penalty shot was Bryan Rust on Dec. 5, 2016, against the Senators.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: December 2, 2017, 4:40 a.m.
