Penguins fall to Canadiens as goaltender Tristan Jarry gets pulled again

Whatever the Pittsburgh Penguins hope to accomplish this spring, it will likely involve All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry.

But in the last stages of winter, just completing a game appears to be a challenge too great for Jarry.

During a repugnant 6-4 loss at PPG Paints Arena against the Montreal Canadiens, one of the NHL’s leading contenders in the upcoming draft lottery, Jarry was pulled after the first period in which he allowed only four goals on seven shots.

Backup Casey DeSmith replaced Jarry and completed the contest. Making 12 saves on 13 shots, DeSmith absorbed the loss as his record fell to 13-14-4.

That marked the second time in eight days that Jarry had been supplanted by DeSmith. During a 5-4 home overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets — another team that poses no threat to claiming a playoff seed — on March 7, Jarry was yanked after 22:37 of action in which he yielded four goals on 12 shots.

A lack of sufficient practice time has been cited as the reason for Jarry’s inconsistent play in recent weeks as he tried to rebound from various undisclosed injuries that hobbled him throughout January and February.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan reiterated that Jarry is not laboring through any sort of ongoing malady.

“He’s fine from a health standpoint,” Sullivan said following Tuesday’s defeat. “We’re trying to get him up to speed here on the fly and it’s a bit of a challenge. We’re working at it. We’re trying to get him (repetitions) in practice. We’re doing our best there.”

The Penguins may have to do their best without three of their top six defensemen moving forward.

Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta did not finish the contest. While Petry did not take the ice to open the third period, Rutta left the game at 4:06 of the third period when a puck struck the inside of his left knee. He required assistance from teammates to leave the ice.

There was no immediate word on their statuses.

The team entered the day without the services of defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Acquired via a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on March 3, Kulikov suffered an undisclosed injury during a 3-2 home overtime win against the New York Rangers on Sunday and will be sidelined on a “week-to-week” basis.

“Unfortunate, obviously,” said Brian Dumoulin, the only member of the Penguins’ blue line to appear in all 67 games this season. “We’ll see what we’re made of coming up.”

The Penguins came up with their first lead only 21 seconds into regulation when forward Jake Guentzel collected his 28th goal of the season.

From the left corner of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby dished a pass to linemate Bryan Rust behind the cage. Swooping around to the left of the crease, Rust had a forehand wraparound denied by goaltender Sam Montembeault. Rust was denied on the initial rebound but Guentzel followed up on a second rebound by firing a forehand shot under Montembeault’s left leg. Rust and Crosby had assists.

A power-play goal by forward Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins up by a pair at 4:49 of the opening period.

Chasing down a puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Guentzel made a strong effort to keep it in the offensive zone and fed a pass to the center point for Penguins defenseman Kris Letang. Stopping the puck with his left skate, Letang surveyed his options and dished a pass to the right circle for Malkin, who clapped a nearly perfect one-timer past Montembeault’s blocker on the far side for his 24th goal. Letang and Guentzel tallied assists.

The Canadiens responded only 32 seconds later when forward Mike Hoffman found his 11th goal.

From his own left half wall, Petry attempted a stretch pass to the far blue line. The intended recipient, forward Josh Archibald, fell to the ice, allowing Canadiens rookie defenseman Justin Barron to accept the puck. Transitioning into the Penguins’ zone, Barron gained the blue line and fed a forehand pass to Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick streaking into the left circle. With Dumoulin making a clumsy attempt to defend the rush, Pitlick left a backhand drop pass for Hoffman who swiped a one-timer from just outside the left hashmarks that toasted Jarry’s blocker on the near side. Assists went to Pitlick and Barron.

Forward Jesse Ylonen’s fourth goal of the season at 7:13 of the first frame tied the game, 2-2.

Wrangling a puck at the left point of the offensive zone, former Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson spun to his left, fended off Rust and maneuvered his way to the center point before sliding a forehand pass to Ylonen at the left point. With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to work with, Ylonen worked his way toward the high slot and ripped a wrister to the far side beyond the reach of Jarry’s glove. Matheson and rookie forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard – who supplied an effective screen on the sequence – netted assists.

The Canadiens’ first lead came via forward Denis Gurianov’s sixth goal at 11:31 of the first period.

After Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin won a puck battle in the left corner of the offensive zone against Penguins forward Drew O’Connor and Dumoulin, Canadiens forward Alex Belzile wound up with possession on the end boards and dealt a quick pass to Gurianov above the crease. Stopping the puck with his right skate, Gurianov elevated a clever backhand shot over Jarry’s glove. Belzile and Drouin had assists.

Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson’s second goal put the Canadiens up, 4-2, late in the opening period at the 19:49 mark.

Following a faceoff win by Drouin against Crosby in the Penguins’ left circle, Canadiens rookie defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic settled the puck at the left point and then teed up a pass to center point for Edmundson who golfed a one-timer beyond Jarry’s charbroiled blocker. Assists were credited to Kovacevic and Drouin.

“We came out strong and kind of let our foot off the gas,” Letang said. “Let them play an easy game. It’s one of those that we should have grabbed those points. We didn’t have the same urgency that we had against the Rangers (on Sunday).”

Letang narrowed the deficit to one with his 10th goal 10:57 into the second period.

Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Letang maneuvered to the center point and chucked a wrister at the cage. With Penguins forward Mikael Granlund as well as Canadiens defenseman David Savard, Harvey-Pinard and Ylonen all serving as a screen, Montembeault never saw the puck as it sailed past his blocker and hit twine. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Rickard Rakell registered assists.

Guentzel tied the game with a power-play goal late in the second period at the 18:05 mark.

After Crosby won a draw in the left circle of the offensive zone against Belzile, Letang claimed possession at the left point and sashayed his way to the center point, where he moved a forehand pass to Malkin above the right circle. From there, Malkin dropped the hammer on a blistering one-timer that Guentzel, stationed above the blue paint, tipped with the shaft of his stick behind Montembeault’s glove on the near side. Malkin and Letang had assists.

Canadiens rookie forward Anthony Richard restored a lead for his team 3:05 into the third period with his second goal.

Lugging a puck up from his own zone, Barron snapped an impressive cross-ice stretch pass to Richard on the right wing. Getting behind Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph, Richard scorched DeSmith’s glove on the near side with a wrister. Barron and Edmundson earned assists.

An empty net goal by Canadiens forward Josh Anderson – his 21st – secured victory late in regulation at 18:05 of the final frame. There were no assists.

“It’s a tough loss,” Dumoulin said. “They capitalized on their opportunities early. We gave them too many easy looks early. They have good players. They score goals. We just gave them too many easy looks.”

The Penguins now turn their attention back to the rival Rangers with consecutive road games in New York on Thursday and Saturday. Situated in fourth place of the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins (34-23-10, 78 points) profess to have designs on overtaking the Rangers (38-19-10, 86 points) for third place.

They’ll likely need their top goaltender to be at the top of his game in order to do that, or anything else of more profound significance.

It remains to be seen when — or if — Jarry can reach that level.

“He’s had a challenging year from an injury standpoint,” Sullivan said. “This is just circumstantial. Nobody can really control that. We just have to control what we can and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to find opportunities to get him (repetitions) in practice and give him a chance to build and develop his game and his foundation.

“Obviously, he’s going to get some of that through the games. It’s just the reality of the circumstance at this point.”

Notes:

• The Penguins canceled a scheduled practice on Wednesday.

• Guentzel’s first goal was his 400th career point.

• Penguins forward Danton Heinen appeared in his 400th career game.

• The Canadiens swept a regular season series against the Penguins (0-1-2) for the first time in nearly two decades. They last accomplished that feat during the 2003-04 campaign, the Penguins’ last season in which Crosby was not in their employ.

2022-23 - 0-1-2

2003-04 - 0-4-0

2001-02 - 0-3-1

1975-76 - 0-6-0

1972-73 - 0-5-0

1967-68 - 0-4-0

• Malkin (1,218 points) surpassed former Penguins defenseman Larry Murphy (1,217) and former NHL forward Jeremy Roenick (1,216) for 45th place on the league’s career scoring list.

• Granlund was perfect (12-0) in faceoffs on Tuesday and set a franchise mark (the NHL did not track faceoff figures until 1997-98) for the best faceoff performance in a game:

Granlund tonight set a team record for best faceoff performance (12-0). Next on the list:

Cullen (11-0 v Flames, 2/16/19)
Barnes (10-0 v Leafs, 1/28/99)
Cullen (8-0 v Blues, 11/25/15)
Talbot (8-0 v Oilers, 1/10/06)
Vitale (8-0 v SJ, 2/23/11)

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) March 15, 2023

• The Penguins’ scratches were defensemen Chad Ruhwedel (healthy), Kulikov and forward Nick Bonino (lacerated kidney).

Follow the Penguins all season long.