The Penguins will start Tristan Jarry in net Monday against Seattle, hoping the goalie can snap the Kraken’s nine-game winning streak.
To do so, Jarry will need to break his own streak of three straight losses. The Penguins host the Kraken at 1 p.m. Monday at PPG Paints Arena in an afternoon game that was moved up five hours to avoid overlapping with the Steelers playoff game.
The Kraken (19-14-9) have won nine games in a row, a streak that stretches to a 2-1 victory at the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 20. They’ve also earned at least a point in 13 straight games.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday that a team can sometimes find motivation from facing an opponent on such a hot streak and trying to play spoiler.
“When you’re playing against a good team that’s had a lot of recent success, you know the challenge that’s in front of you,” Sullivan said. “We know that we’re going to have to be at our best. This is going to be a big challenge against a team that’s playing really well right now.”
The Penguins (20-15-6) enter having lost two in a row, both in overtime with Jarry in net. They lost 3-2 to Carolina on Saturday and 4-3 against Vancouver on Thursday.
Those overtime losses extended Jarry’s losing streak to three games. He also lost 3-1 against Buffalo on Jan. 6. His most recent win came Dec. 30 against St. Louis.
Jarry is 11-12-4 with a 2.58 GAA and .913 save percentage.
