Penguins press on without Tristan Jarry

The Pittsburgh Penguins opened practice Wednesday in Cranberry in a different fashion.

They talked. To be clear, only Mike Sullivan spoke as his players gathered around him near the home bench at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Sullivan explained why they had only one NHL goaltender on the ice.

Tristan Jarry had been waived.

Sullivan went on to explain where the team’s game is (not in a good place) and what they have to do to rectify the problem (a lot).

It was a fairly somber affair given Jarry’s status and the team’s overall funk (1-4-3 since New Year’s Eve).

“Obviously, when you lose, this is the kind of stuff that can happen,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “A goaltender already has a ton of pressure, and I think it’s difficult for us because we feel like as a team we’re responsible if we don’t give our goalies enough help sometimes. Yeah, I think that’s the tough part.”

To a man, Jarry’s teammates defended their goaltender and suggested his shortcomings were a result of the team’s overall defensive woes.

“It’s a team game,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “It’s not all about one guy. It’s a (23)-man roster, and we could have done a lot better in front of him, that’s for sure. Just look at the goals we gave up all the time, the (grade-A) chances. He’s not alone in this.

“And it kind of (stinks) because he’s been around for a long time. He’s played tremendous hockey for this organization, so, hopefully, he has success and he comes back quick.”

It remains to be seen whether Jarry will return. And if he does, when.

Should Jarry go unclaimed in waivers — and that’s a safe assumption given his poor play and not-so-poor salary cap hit of $5.375 million — he will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Thursday, according to Penguins president of Kyle Dubas. Goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist will be recalled to form a tandem with incumbent goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

Whoever is in the net for the team moving forward, they’ll do so behind a squad that emphasized defensive-zone play during a studious practice Wednesday.

“That practice was a (defensive) zone practice,” forward Noel Acciari said. “Be stronger in the (defensive) zone. That’s an area in our game that we need to be better, especially at this part of the year. We’ve got to be able to win games 2-1, 1-0. It’s got to be a group effort, everyone on the ice.”

Practice goaltender Mike Chiasson and Nedeljkovic were the only ones on the ice in net Wednesday. Nedeljkovic sang the praises of his friend Jarry.

“He’s been a guy that’s played in this league a long time,” Nedeljkovic said. “(A) two-time All-Star. So it’s not like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s not like he’s forgotten how to play. He’s just going through a rough patch right now, and that’s unfortunate. But we’re going to do everything we can as teammates to help him get through this, and as people as well. Just as a person to try to help him get through it and come out better for it. So it’s tough.”

All of this is happening as the Penguins approach a tough seven-game road trip to close out January.

The success of the trip very well might dictate how legitimate their hopes of being a playoff team are, regardless of who is in goal.

“We still believe in here,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “We’re going to fight and claw. We’ve got a big trip coming up. So we’ve got to find some answers in here. That’s something that’s a wake-up call for everybody. It’s a performance-driven business.

“We’re going to make sure we take a lot of pride in this and look at ourselves, what we can do better in front of both of our goalies.”

Note: Forward Cody Glass was withheld from practice while being evaluated for an undisclosed injury, according to Sullivan.