Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry knows what matters

Tristan Jarry knows a little bit about what Joel Blomqvist is going through at the moment.

Once upon a time, Jarry was the intriguing goaltending prospect who arrived in Pittsburgh to back up an incumbent starter who had fallen on hard times and out of favor with the locals.

That scenario largely played out in the late 2010s when Jarry was promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and began to challenge the increasingly beleaguered Matt Murray for the starting role in Pittsburgh.

It’s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to suggest Blomqvist is here to take Jarry’s job. In all reality, Blomqvist is on site temporarily to fill in for injured backup Alex Nedeljkovic.

But Jarry, a second-round pick in 2013, knows what Blomqvist, a second-round pick in 2020, is experiencing as he takes his first substantial steps in the NHL.

“It’s always hard,” Jarry said. “There’s always a lot of nerves. You always obviously want to do well, and the pressure is a little different coming from the American (Hockey) League to the NHL. … The games are a little bit faster, the players are in better spots.

“That’s just something that you’ll have to learn, really, as you play.”

A skeptic might suggest Jarry himself is still receiving an education as he enters his eighth season in the NHL.

His seventh season did not end all that well as he was supplanted by Nedeljkovic for the final 13 games of 2023-24 as the desperate Penguins made a valiant but futile surge for a playoff berth.

When the Penguins needed victories the most to salvage their season, Jarry, in the first year of a lavish five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.375 million, was relegated to opening the bench door for that stretch.

“It’s tough,” Jarry said during the team’s season-ending media availability in April. “You obviously want to be out there. You want to be battling with them. You want to be a part of it.”

In the days after the 2023-24 season came to an end for the Penguins, coach Mike Sullivan and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas made it clear that Jarry was still a major part of this franchise and that he was still viewed as the franchise’s top goaltender.

At the same time, those endorsements came with something of an edict.

“(Management) challenged me to have a good summer,” Jarry said. “They challenged me to work really hard and come in better shape this year and I think I was able to do that. I was able to come in as a better version of myself.”

Jarry is brief on specifics, but he did alter his offseason regimen.

“I changed who I worked out with, and then I kind of changed programming a little bit, something just to better fit my needs,” Jarry said. “I don’t think it was so much of anything wrong. I think it was just something more tailored to myself.”

Having been fitted for jerseys in two All-Star games, Jarry clearly has talent and that has never been seriously questioned.

But his day-to-day consistency has been a fair critique, even going back to his days with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

He acknowledges that shortcoming.

“Last year, I had some stretches where I was good and I had some stretches where I could improve,” Jarry said. “Being more consistent I think will help the team and I think will help us generate more wins.”

What does that look like?

“It’s just having someone the team can lean on,” the 29-year-old said. “That’s the easiest way to put it. It’s not so much Xs and Os. It’s just being able to be the guy they can depend on. Being able to be someone that when they need to win a game, you’re that guy. That’s just someone that I’ve always wanted to be and someone that I hope that I am when I’m in net.”

In one fashion, Jarry’s presence has been consistent in the estimation of his teammates, even when he ceded the crease to Nedeljkovic last season.

“You couldn’t tell that he wasn’t playing at the end of last year,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “He was still working. He still had a smile on his face, joking around with everybody. He takes it very seriously. He wants to win.

“We know he’s a pro and he wants to be out there.”

Barring anything unforeseen, Jarry will be there in net when the Penguins open the 2024-25 campaign Wednesday against the visiting New York Rangers.

It will mark the fifth time he has been stationed in the crease to open a season for the Penguins. Only franchise pillars Marc-Andre Fleury (12) and Tom Barrasso (10) have received that call more often.

Each of those goaltenders led the Penguins to resounding triumphs but not without the binary scrutiny that comes with this unique position.

Jarry knows, all too well, that comes with the gig.

“Whatever the outside perception is, they can have their perception,” Jarry said. “But you know what matters and you know what you have to improve and what you care for. It’s just making sure you stay within that, making sure that you’re doing everything in your power to keep winning hockey games.

“You can let whoever (think) whatever they want to think on the outside. But what matters is inside this room.”

Notes: Penguins forward Bryan Rust, currently designated to injured reserve for an undisclosed ailment, participated in a practice session in Cranberry on Tuesday. He took to the ice in a non-contact capacity. … Nedeljkovic, also designed to injured reserve, worked out prior to practice. … Thursday’s road game against the Detroit Red Wings was rescheduled for a start time shortly after 8 p.m. The contest was originally slated to begin after 7 p.m.