Tristan Jarry absent from Penguins practice; Brandon Tanev returns
Two days after not playing the final two periods of a game because of an upper-body ailment, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry was not present at practice Wednesday in Cranberry,
Maxime Lagace practiced along with Casey DeSmith. Lagace, a 28-year-old veteran of 17 NHL games, was recalled to the Penguins’ taxi squad Tuesday. If Jarry misses time, Lagace would serve as backup.
After practice, Coach Mike Sullivan termed Jarry as “day to day” and said Jarry did not skate Wednesday.
Maxine Lagace in net during Penguins practice.
Tristan Jarry is not present.
It’s Casey DeSmith time pic.twitter.com/7aEYrhqtmC— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) March 31, 2021
The Penguins play at the Boston Bruins on Thursday and Saturday.
Jarry is 12-3-1 in his past 16 starts. His departure from Monday’s game remains something of a mystery. Sullivan only said medical personnel advised Jarry be removed from the game.
DeSmith is in his sixth season as part of the Penguins organization, his third playing in the NHL. He arguably had the best statistics of any goalie in the league during March: 4-1-0, 0.89 goals-against average, .969 save percentage and two shutouts in five starts.
Emil Larmi is another goalie on the taxi squad, but Larmi has scant North American pro experience, none in the NHL.
In other injury news from practice Wednesday, third-line forwards Brandon Tanev and Teddy Blueger were back on the ice with teammates. Tanev, who has missed the past six games because of an upper-body injury, was a full practice participant. Tanev previously had participated in Monday’s morning skate.
Blueger was the only player in the session wearing a white jersey, indicating he was in “no-contact” status. Blueger, who has missed the past eight games because of an upper-body injury, also skated with the Penguins’ taxi squad before the full-squad practice.
Sullivan said injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen did not skate Wednesday but continued off-ice rehab for their injuries.
Note: The Penguins swapped a pair of young forwards from their taxi squad and American Hockey League affiliate, re-assigning forward Justin Almeida to the taxi squad and moving Drew O’Connor to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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