In recent years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have made it a priority to stock up on goaltenders.

That surplus was on display Monday morning as they had four netminders on the ice for an optional practice session in Cranberry.

Granted, one of them was the team’s goaltending consultant (i.e. practice goaltender), 39-year-old Mike Chiasson.

And only two of them — rookies Sergei Murashov and Arturs Silovs — were officially on the active roster.

The other, Tristan Jarry, was taking steps to work his way back from an undisclosed ailment that landed him on injured reserve after he was hobbled during a 4-3 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 3.

“That was obviously my first group setting with (some teammates),” Jarry said after Monday’s practice. “But it felt good.”

There has been plenty to feel positive about with Jarry’s play this season.

Always under scrutiny given the demanding nature of his position and his various mishaps in trying to meet those expectations throughout his career, Jarry has been the team’s winningest goaltender this season. In seven games, he has posted a 5-2-0 record, a 2.60 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and one shutout.

He really hadn’t offered an odious performance this season until the loss in Toronto where he was injured. Laboring through the undisclosed malady he suffered, he stopped only 16 of 20 shots in that contest.

“It’s always hard,” Jarry said. “That’s the whole part of goaltending. You see throughout the year and you see all the goalies throughout the league, there’s ups and downs. There’s swings. There’s injuries. There’s highs and lows.

“I think it’s being able to manage that, and I think every year comes (with) different challenges.”

The Penguins officially played Jarry on injured reserve Nov. 4 and announced a timeframe for recovery of a minimum of three weeks the next day.

Two weeks later, he appears to be trending towards that terminus, though he was uncertain as to the progress of that pursuit.

“I guess I would be on schedule,” Jarry said. “Obviously, they have a plan on what they’re going to do, and I adhere to that plan. So, I think it’s just going from a day-by-day standpoint, seeing how I feel and just working towards that.”

Jarry is no stranger to injuries. They have pockmarked his career.

Most famously, he missed the final games of the 2021-22 regular season due to a broken right foot then tried to grit through the impediment in Game 7 of an opening-round playoff series against the New York Rangers (losing, 4-3, in overtime).

Perhaps more infamously, he came up lame with a different unspecified ailment during the 2023 Winter Classic staged in Boston. As the Penguins struggled to stay in the playoff race of the final three-plus months of their season, Jarry kept trying to play through his pain but never regained full health. In fact, he might have exacerbated his disablement by trying to plow through it.

“That injury came from a lot of things,” Jarry said. “It was just something that happened. And it was hard to manage. And it was something that it took my body probably over a year just to feel human again. So, it was very tough. It’s something that I sometimes still deal with.

“So, being able to have that injury and kind of learn from it and just kind of take your time and know your body a little bit more, I think it helps. But obviously, those types of injuries inhibit you.”

Unlike the winter of 2023, the Penguins aren’t struggling to stay in the playoff race in the autumn of 2025. A fast start has afforded them a strong station in the standings. Plus, there are still five months to go during the regular season.

Additionally, Murashov and Silovs have offered strong play in net this season. In 2023, the Penguins were leaning on journeymen Casey DeSmith and Dustin Tokarski to fill in for Jarry, to mixed results.

All of that adds up to less urgency for Jarry to return to the lineup and affords him a more relaxed pace to ensure he is completely able-bodied.

At 30, he has a better understanding of the benefit of rest when his body isn’t feeling 100%.

“Once you get older, you kind of learn that a little bit more,” Jarry said. “When you’re younger, you want to play every game and you want to be a part of every game, but sometimes when you’re playing through injuries, it kind of inhibits you to do what you do best.

“Being able to kind of take a step back and be able to work on your body and your mind and that aspect of it, and just come back your full version, I think that helps a lot.”

In the meantime, Jarry has liked what he’s seen from his team regardless of who is in net.

“(Silovs) and Sergei have done a great job these past couple games,” Jarry said. “(Silovs) has done a great job this year. He’s kept the team in a lot of games, and I think the biggest thing is we’re getting to a point in the game where we have a chance to win every game.

“That comes from everyone within this room, whether guys are blocking shots, we’re getting big plays, the power play, the penalty kill. I think everyone’s doing a great job collectively just being a team.”

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