Penguins One-Timers: Assessing Tristan Jarry’s Spot; Identifying Pens Real Problems

Somewhere between Detroit and Toronto The Pittsburgh Penguins are 1-1-0.

The bitter, raw broccoli taste created by a ghastly self-dismantling against the New York Rangers on night one was followed by an increasingly good performance in a 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings Thursday at Little Caesars Arena.

There was plenty of good.

Rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist showed his best self rather than the rookie who was twice torched in the preseason.

The Penguins power play wasnt terrible, and they scored an important goal with the game in the balance.

So many times last season, that exact scenario turned dark as the power play sputtered and the Penguins squandered leads, or nearly squandered leads.

Coach Mike Sullivans deft juggling of his top linesputting Drew OConnor with Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell with Sidney Crosby seemed to work well, too.

By virtue of the win, the team can say, its early, and work on problems and deficiencies rather than feeling the mounting pressure of losses and lost ground to would-be playoff competition.

However, that does not mean the Penguins look like a good team yet.

There are simmering problems that are both a carryover from last season and probably not correctable without changes.

Penguins One-Timers 1.

Tristan Jarry OK, lets have at it.

While the fanbase rejoices in Blomqvists stellar performance as proof of concept that Jarry should play in Wheeling or Siberia, and anyone ...

ANYONE ...

else should be in the Penguins net, the reality is a little bit different.

And anyone who tells you differently is producing fan porn.

Must we go over Jarry again? Yes, he disappointed the team and fans last season when he was in the tank ...

with the rest of the team.

No, I no longer bother trying to explain that he and Alex Nedeljkovic were legitimate contenders for the Jennings Trophy until the team collapse began in February.

No, I cannot defend his playoff performance in 2021, in which he was probably the singular greatest cause of defeat against the New York Islanders.

And no, he does not have the ebullient or effervescent personality of Marc-Andre Fleury.

But who does? Jarry, 29, does not have that career-defining moment that fans can hang onto, and thus, more than a few are anxiously hoping Sullivan turns to Nedeljkovic as soon as hes healthy and Blomqvist immediately.

Im sorry.

Its not happening anytime soon.

Blomqvist has some maturing to do yet and lets not forget Jarry earned a five-year contract with an annual salary cap hit of $5.375 million.

Such contracts are neither tradeable nor are the players easily stashed in the AHL.

Such a dramatic move is six months after the last resort.

Oh, and despite last season, Jarrys career save percentage is still .911.

Blomqvist was very, very good on Thursday.

He earned all of the accolades, but be careful when assuming that is the norm.

We did extension research in the early days of Pittsburgh Hockey Now (which are likely lost forever) that showed goalies arent trustworthy until about 100 gamesTHEN teams can know what they have.

See also Matt Murray.

In this moment, Blomqvist is the fair-haired favorite without baggage.

Such would not be the case after a couple of bad games and Penguins losses.

So, if youre lining up to shake your fist and demand Jarrys ouster, you may want to hit the gym to get in shape because youll be doing it for quite a while.

It can happen to well-paid goalies such as Cal Petersen and Jack Campbell , but its never done lightly, and Jarry is a long way from the unusable versions those goalies became.

2.

Real Problems The Penguins have a genuine problem on defense.

Thursday night, the third pairing of Ryan Graves and Jack St.

Ivany was rough.

In fairness, Kris Letang and even Marcus Pettersson had problems.

However, our resident coach and expert analyst Francis Anzalone diagnosed some of the issues in Gravess game during his latest Coachs Debrief video.

There were a few more displayed on Thursday, too.

Graves was not strong on the wall and his gaps are still large.

Analzone noted Graves can struggle with nuanced positioning and even taking away passing lanes by properly using one hand on his stick.

It may be a matter of time before Sullivan turns to Ryan Shea in the Penguins lineup.

Graves has ample NHL experience; hes an NHL defenseman who will most likely be in the lineup for weeks to come, but its now a legitimate worry that his shortcomings are not temporary.

3.

Who Stays The easiest thing to do when Bryan Rust is healthyperhaps as early as this weekendis to send Rutger McGroarty down to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Thats the easy thing do to.

Blake Lizottes concussion certainly complicates the situation and it seems Sullivan may disagree with Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, who viewed Kevin Hayes as a center.

Sullivan seems to like him at wing, so much so that hes using Cody Glass as the fourth line center instead of Hayes.

Glass would be the next in line for a demotion behind McGroarty, but his ability to play center will keep him in the lineup until Lizotte returns.

And, if fairness, hes been pretty good, too.

However, the Penguins best lineup could be jumbled because of the Rust fallout.

Rust will take Rakells spot on the top line, pushing OConnor to the top line or third line, which could push Anthony Beauvillier to the third line, which pushes McGroarty out.

Kevin Hayes wont come out of the lineup, and Puljujarvi is still riding high from a splendid training camp and preseason.

The Penguins remain at $0.00 cap space, so adding even a dollar is impossible.

Its going to be a numbers game, but well see how committed Dubas is to the youth movement when it collides with Sullivans desire to win now.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission..

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