Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry returns to Vancouver with newfound success
Growing up in Surrey, British Columbia, Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry was a fan of the Vancouver Canucks in his formative years.
During the “West Coast Express” era for the Canucks from the early- to mid-2000s, Jarry had two players who stood out to him.
One was forward Markus Naslund, a former Penguins castoff who became arguably the most important player in the history of the Canucks.
The other was, as one might guess, a goaltender. Dan Cloutier, a good-but-never-great netminder who was more known for a quick temper than a quick glove.
“I guess the goalies were ones I always watched,” Jarry said to media in Vancouver on Friday. “We had season tickets three rows up, right behind the goalie. So I got to watch the goalie very closely.”
Jarry had very different vantage point Saturday than any other he experienced during his previous visits to the Rogers Arena.
The net.
For the first time in his professional career, Jarry played the Canucks as a visitor.
“It’s one of the teams that you grow up watching,” Jarry said. “Just to watch all the different players that played in this organization, I think it would be cool to play against them in your home (province).”
The Canucks were facing a goaltender who has been one of the NHL’s best this season.
Before Saturday, Jarry had played in 19 games and had a 10-5-4 record along with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and three shutouts.
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Penguins forward Danton Heinen, a native of Langley, British Columbia, who played against Jarry in the Pacific Coast Bantam Hockey League as a youth. “I saw it from a young age. He’s always been good. Seeing him up close, his ability to make the big saves at the big times has been huge for us. I can’t say enough about him. He’s been great.”
There were great doubts Jarry would even be playing for the Penguins this season after he struggled mightily during the 2021 postseason, losing in six games to the New York Islanders during the first round.
Jarry claims he has used that experience to craft his strong play this season.
“That was something that every player needs to go through. You have your ups and downs as a player. I think that can’t define you. It has to be something you have to push back and persevere through. Just being able to use it as an experience and being able to grow from it, I think that ultimately can help me as a player.”
The 26-year-old says he didn’t do anything drastically different this past offseason to reverse his fortune. He suggests he simply put in the hours.
“It’s about hard work,” Jarry said. “Coming to practice every day and working hard. That’s what translates for your game, just being able to put the time in practice and off the ice. That’s what helps you and gives you the best success for games.”
Having a more defined focus on his craft seems to have helped as well.
“That’s a huge aspect of being a goaltender,” Jarry said. “You have all those thoughts and all those things going on in your head. Maybe it could be a play or a goal or even just so much as the game. Being able to block those out and just focus on the task at hand and focusing on the puck ultimately is something that you need to do as a goalie.
“The biggest job that you have is just to stop the puck.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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