The Pittsburgh Penguins have a goaltending problem on their hands. They lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road on Friday night 5-2 and they also lost to the St. Louis Blues by the same score on Saturday night on the road.
Tristan Jarry made 25 saves on Friday night. He wasn’t that great, but Jarry has been better than Matt Murray has been as of late.
Tristan Jarry has appeared in nine games so far this season. Jarry has started in seven games so far this season. His record is 5-4 with a .929 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA.
Murray had 22 saves in the game on Saturday night. He gave up some bad goals in the game and Matt Murray has been a problem.
It doesn’t seem like he is 100 percent and Murray is on a contract year. Entering Saturday night, he has started and appeared in 19 games so far this season.
Matt Murray’s record is 9-4-4 with a .901 save percentage and a 2.72 GAA, along with one shutout so far this season. Murray has been yanked in a few games recently.
He is 24 years old and Jarry is 25 years old.
Tristan Jarry is also a restricted free agent along with Matt Murray at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see what happens if Jarry plays better than Murray.
Matt Murray was the one who won two Stanley Cups and not Tristan Jarry. Jarry was drafted in the second-round in 2013 and Murray was drafted in the third-round in 2012.
This team also has another good goalie in the farm system. Casey DeSmith is currently the starting goalie for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL.
DeSmith battled it out with Tristan Jarry for the backup job during training camp.
Casey Desmith is 28 years old. He lost the job and since he was on a one-way contracr, DeSmith had to be placed on waivers. No one claimed so he is still within the orginization.
Casey DeSmith is one of the reasons why Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is currently tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Providence Bruins. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins record so far this season is 13-6-2-1 with 29 points.
DeSmith’s record so far this season is 9-4 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.44 GAA, along with two shutouts. He has appeared in 14 games so far this season.
Casey DeSmith appeared in 36 games last season in the NHL. His record was 15-11-5 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA, along with three shutouts.
They will most likely call him up only if their is an injury to Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry.
DeSmith will be with the team until after the 2021-2022 season is over. He only has a $1.25 million cap hit at the moment.
Pittsburgh is currently in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Their record so far this season is 14-9-4 with 32 points.
With all of the injuries going on, that is a pretty nice record to have. However, the goaltending could be the reason why they don’t make it to the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season.
The Penguins last missed the playoffs in 2005-2006. That was Sidney Crosby’s rookie season.
If the season ended today, they would play the Washington Capitals (19-4-5, 43 points) in the postseason.
That would be a series where anything goes.
With that being said, it is only going to be the beginning of December. It will be interesting to see how this goaltending situation plays out.
If it doesn’t get better, I am curious to see if Jim Rutherford is forced to make a move this season or in the immediate future.
Goaltending is a key component in winning a Stanley Cup Title. They recently won back-to-back titles in 2016 against the San Jose Sharks in six games and in 2017 against the Nashville Predators in six games. They won both of those games on the road.
Without goaltending, you don’t have a chance to win a Stanley Cup Title. It is like not having a quarterback in the NFL. It is a very good comparison none the less.
Will see what happens moving forward. The Pittsburgh Penguins better hope this goaltending situation gets settled moving forward.
Head Coach Mike Sullivan can not keep on playing goalie carousel every single game. It takes a toll on a hockey team in the long run. It is not fun for them.
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