Sunday’s shutout lowered Tristan Jarry’s season goals-against average to 2.70 and raised his save percentage to .911.

If you take away Jarry’s third period during last Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, those season numbers would improve to 2.54 GAA and .915.

The period — in which Jarry allowed six goals on 11 shots — was that bad. But what hasn’t been bad is Jarry’s response to it. In the two games since, Jarry has allowed one goal on 61 shots in 120 minutes, including his first shutout of the season during Sunday’s 1-0 win against the Boston Bruins.

“It’s a short season, (and) we’re playing a lot of games in a short period of time,” Jarry said over video conference call with media Sunday. “So it’s a matter of putting it behind you as quickly as you can and being prepared for the next game.”

Known for his unflappable demeanor, Jarry has played as if he was unfazed by his horrendous period. While some from the outside questioned if coach Mike Sullivan should have stuck with Jarry to start the next game two days later against the same opponent, Jarry proved his coach wise when he stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 5-1 win versus New Jersey on Thursday.

Then Sunday, against a team that has given him fits (1-4-2, 3.48 GAA, .892 career save percentage vs. Boston coming in), Jarry had one of his best performances of the season. It was his first shutout since Dec. 12, 2019.

“Just a huge performance by him,” wing Jake Guentzel said. “Game in and game out, he’s always there for us. Tristan is an excellent goalie for us. We’re definitely lucky to have him back there.”

Jarry is 9-1-2 in his past 12 starts.

No perfection

Nobody’s perfect, but “The Perfection Line” was pretty close when playing the Penguins this season.

Boston’s David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand combined for 11 goals and 20 points during the first six games of the season series against the Penguins. At least one of the trio had scored during all but one of those meetings before Sunday, and they’d combined for at least a point in each of them.

The group combined for 13 points over the previous three games against the Penguins. Like the rest of the Bruins, they were shut out Sunday. They attempted 13 shots on goal, with nine getting on net.

The Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Guentzel and Bryan Rust primarily was matched up against Boston’s “Perfection Line.”

“It’s fun,” said Guentzel, who had the game’s only goal. “You know the offensive abilities they have. They’re the best line in hockey. So I think whenever you play against them you’ve got to be at your best. It’s a challenge for our line to kind of see how you match up against them. I think for us, you just get excited for this game, and you know you’ve got to be good on both ends of the ice.”

Jake’s great

By his standards, it had been a while since Guentzel had scored. So long, he had given up his sole claim to the team’s lead in goals.

But Guentzel’s first goal in six games and 21st of the season came during the third period Sunday, a day after his linemates had scored their 20th goals of the season. Guentzel had a six-game stretch without a goal Feb. 27-March 7, the only other time in 2021 he’d gone more than three games without a goal.

“It was a great play, a great setup by Sid. It was a goal scorer’s goal,” Sullivan said of Guentzel’s shot from the left-wing circle 4 minutes and 3 seconds into the third. “And that’s what Jake has the ability to do for us.”

Guentzel is averaging 0.48 goals per game over the past three seasons.

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.

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