Penguins’ Tristan Jarry, showing increased signs of stability, collects 4th straight win

In terms of the result, Tristan Jarry is riding a wave of a sort unseen for more than a calendar year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins goalie picked up his fourth straight win Saturday, helping his club to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena.

Jarry, who was relegated to backup at the end of last season and demoted to the American Hockey League earlier this year after a poor start, has led the Penguins to wins over the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Maple Leafs in consecutive starts.

The last time he won four in a row was Nov. 4 to Nov. 14, 2023.

“I think it’s just about being better every day,” Jarry said. “I said that at the beginning (of the year) when things weren’t going well for me, that I just wanted to be better. I think being able to string together a couple wins really helps the confidence, and I think it really helps the team. In the end, this is a team game, and we all want two points.”

Jarry’s efforts of late have gotten the Penguins (12-13–4) two points against opponents, including the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, with a combined 62-36-11 record.

Last year, his four straight wins came against the hapless San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Over this current span, Jarry has stopped 117 of 128 shots for a .914 save percentage and 2.75 goals-against average.

Saturday, Jarry denied 25 of Toronto’s 27 shots on goal.

“He’s been great for us,” said forward Rickard Rakell. “He’s making huge saves, giving us a chance to stay in games, even when teams are pushing us back. Gives us a lot of confidence, working hard and just playing good in front of him.”

Coach Mike Sullivan didn’t quite know how to respond Saturday when asked what’s different now with Jarry as opposed to the beginning of the year, when he was getting routinely shellacked, prompting a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton.

“His first couple of starts were rough, but he’s grabbed ahold of it and I give him a lot of credit,” Sullivan said. “He’s worked hard. He went to Wilkes, got some games there and played extremely well, and he’s building his game with every game that he plays here. We think he’s getting better and better.

“When he’s playing at the top of his game, he’s a very good goalie, and he’s going to make timely saves for us. We know he is.”

Jarry made a number of big saves Saturday and held firm for the vast majority of the third period when the Penguins were clinging to a 3-2 advantage.

Then, with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in regulation, Toronto got a power- play after a Bryan Rust high-sticking infraction.

With about 90 seconds to go, Toronto pulled goalie Joseph Woll to create a 6-on-4 man-advantage.

Jarry proceeded to make back-to-back saves on wristers from John Tavares and Auston Matthews before Blake Lizotte iced the game with an empty netter at the 19:20 mark.

Kris Letang followed with another empty-net goal 14 seconds later.

The Maple Leafs put 11 shots on goal in the third period, their most of any frame Saturday, with Jarry stopping every one.

Overall, Jarry’s 3.68 GAA and .888 save percentage on the year still leave much to be desired from a key player signed long-term at $5.375 million per year.

That said, Jarry showing signs of stabilizing bodes well for a Penguins club hoping to do the same following a largely rotten campaign to date.

“You see he’s got confidence, but ‘Jars’ is ‘Jars,’ ” Rust said. “It doesn’t matter what’s been going on this year. He’s been coming to the rink (and) he’s been working hard. Obviously, it’s not been a great year mentally for him. He’s come back, and he’s shown a lot of resilience. That’s huge.

“Our team notices that. Our room notices that. When he’s at his game, that just kind of helps rally our team.”