In the NHL’s temporarily reconstituted and corporate sponsored East Division, there are a handful of teams that still use a hard, physical, bruising element in their games.
The New York Islanders are one of those groups.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are not.
As maintained by former general manager Jim Rutherford and hitherto maintained by his successor, Ron Hextall, the Penguins are still primarily focused on using speed and skill to defeat the opposition.
“What’s important is that we understand the type of game we have to play,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We have to play by our identity. This is the conversation we have with our players, no matter who our opponent is. It does not make sense that we get caught up in playing someone else’s games. We have to play our game and dictate the terms for it. ”
Of course, you can nurture any identity that you can cherish well if your goalkeeper like Tristan Jarry plays late.
Jarry struck 32 times on 32 shots on Thursday, leading the Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
He came within five minutes of recording his first lockout of the season and continued a series of strong games this past week.
In his last three games, Jarry has stopped 98 of 105 shots, which equates to a save percentage of .933.
In contrast, in his first seven games of the season, he was able to deny only 150 of the 175 strokes he faced, resulting in an ugly save percentage of .857.
For Jarry, the key to improvement was simple.
“I’m just working on it in practice and making sure my habits are good, this is where it’s coming from,” Jarry said via a video conference. ‘It works hard in practice and works hard with (coach Mike Buckley) and the coaching staff. It helped clear up my exercise habits, and it translated into my game. ”
Another thing that translated this game well for the Penguins: line change. Specifically, the right wing is at the top two lines. Kasperi Kapanen was moved to the top line while Bryan Rust pushed to the second line.
These changes led to three of the Penguins goals.
The Penguins regulated the first goal of the game 4 minutes, 15 seconds, after Kapanen stole a suit in New York’s left wing and quickly slammed a wrist to the cage while falling. Penguins forward Sidney Crosby skated above the crease and deflected the shot from his stick, past goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov’s blocker on the near side for his sixth goal of the season.
It turned into a 2-0 game late in the second period at 18:01. Varlamov denied a wicket on the left of the islanders by Penguins defender Mike Matheson, but a setback deviated to the right of the crease, where Penguins forward Teddy Blueger cleared the rubbish for his third goal. .
An insurance goal was added at 9:11 of the third period. From behind the Islanders, Rust made a pass in front of the crease for Penguins forward Jason Zucker, who fired a wrist for his fourth goal.
A faucet goal from Islanders Brock Nelson – his fourth of the season – at 15:39 of the third, broke the closing bid.
Rust scored his sixth goal on an empty net to clinch the score at 16:54.
“It’s a good building block for us,” Zucker said. “We have to keep improving from now on.”
Jarry seems to be doing it already.
“He’s really making progress,” Sullivan said. ‘He looks much more comfortable in the crease. He challenges the shooter. He keeps the pack through the traffic. Its rebound control has been improved.
‘If your goalkeeper saves for your team, it has a psychological impact in a positive way in the group in front of him. Tristan is doing it for us now. ‘
Seth Rorabaugh is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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