Penguins taking 3 goaltenders on Western Canada road trip

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ best goaltender this season opened a practice session in Cranberry on Saturday as a spectator.

After all, Joel Blomqvist got plenty of work the night before when his teammates allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to fire 39 shots at him during a 4-1 loss at PPG Paints Arena.

As the Penguins began to spruce up their sagging five-on-five play Saturday, rookie Blomqvist stood near the boards as veterans Alex Nedeljkovic — recovering from an undisclosed injury — and Tristan Jarry — simply hobbled by lousy play — took the bulk of pucks thrown on them by teammates.

Blomqvist eventually began to cycle in with the group and got his fair share of work. But Jarry and Nedeljkovic clearly need the most refinement, albeit for much different reasons.

To date, Blomqvist has been the team’s most outstanding goaltender, admittedly by default. In four games, he has a 2-2-0 record, a 3.16 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

He opened the season on the NHL roster as Nedeljkovic, the incumbent backup, was injured during a preseason contest in late September.

As for Jarry, who was in dire need of a strong start after a meek conclusion to his 2023-24 season, he has ceded the net based on performance barely a week into the current season.

In three games, Jarry has posted a 1-1-0 record along with Christmas sweater-ugly figures such as a 5.47 GAA and an .836 save percentage.

“It’s obviously a work in progress. I want to be better,” Jarry said. “Those two, three games that I’ve had, I obviously was hoping for a better start, hoping to play better games. That’s on myself. I just have to keep working, keep managing what I’m doing and just work through it.”

Jarry didn’t get much work in his latest outing. During a 6-5 home overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres, he was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in only 11 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time.

“Obviously, I let in a couple of goals early,” Jarry said. “That’s always tough to recover from. When that happens, you just have to work through it. Being able to manage yourself, manage your mind is a big part of it. Obviously, letting in a couple goals early hurts.”

Whatever hurt Nedeljkovic appears to have fully recovered. The team sent him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment Thursday and in his season debut Friday, he led that team to a 4-3 home win against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by making 33 saves on 36 shots.

“I felt good,” Nedeljkovic said. “It was nice. I saw a little bit of everything. I think it was the kind of game you’d want in this situation. I saw a lot of power-play opportunities, short-handed, had breakaways, odd-man rushes, a little bit of six-on-five and some six-on-four (scenarios). A little bit of everything. Felt good. As the game went on, settled in more and more and made adjustments. It was nice.”

Nedeljkovic indicated he feels “100%.” What has a lower percentage of certainty is who the Penguins’ starting goaltender will be for the bulk of an upcoming four-game road trip in the western half of Canada, starting with a contest against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Coach Mike Sullivan indicated all three netminders will be part of the team’s traveling party. Typically, Sullivan will not identify his starting goaltender until the day of a game.

“As far as decisions on guys that go in the net, performance, at the end of the day, is going to be the ultimate dictator — as it is in all the positions,” Sullivan said. “We know we’ve got quality guys there.”

Sullivan affirmed the qualities the organization still sees in Jarry, a two-time All-Star.

“(Jarry) put a lot of work in the offseason,” Sullivan said. “He did come into (training) camp in terrific shape. We all feel strongly that will serve him well. Just digging in here and working his way into capturing his best game. These players, they’re human beings. They’re not unlike any of the rest of us. They go through stretches where maybe their confidence isn’t at the level that it needs to be, and we’re trying to work with our guys in that regard.

“We’ve got to find a way to help him take some of that load off him. Just let him dig in and work through this process and get back to that instinctive mindset that all players (are) at their very best when they’re in that.”

Jarry has put in considerable work in recent days to correct his malfunctions. Following a morning skate Friday, he remained on the ice for approximately 40 minutes with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo. A similar pattern followed Saturday’s practice session.

Jarry didn’t offer many details as to any specifics he and Chiodo worked on. But he did outline his approach to capturing the form that is expected of him.

“Just honestly letting go,” Jarry said. “We did a lot of mental aspects of the game to start the season, a lot of video, a lot of teaching. Now, it’s just at the point of letting go and being myself and trying to be the best goalie moving forward.”

Note: During Saturday’s practice, forward Michael Bunting skated on a “fourth” defensive pairing, suggesting he will be a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game. Primarily stationed on the second line, Bunting had one assist in six games this season. When asked about Bunting’s play, Sullivan simply stated, “I think our expectation is higher.”