No hockey season is determined by one play.
Not a bad break. Not a bad penalty. Not a bad goal.
Those bad goals linger, though. More than anything else that happens in the sport, those bad goals become unshakable memories. And if there are too many, those bad goals become the story.
Bad goals have buried the Pittsburgh Penguins for most of this decade. They’ve been allowed by many goalies. They’re a problem that requires a complete change going into next season.
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There are many other reasons why disappointment has haunted a franchise led by Sidney Crosby, an inexhaustible historical superstar who has mocked Father Time at every turn. But more than anything else, the Penguins have failed to extend what was an unrivaled success in the salary-cap era because their goalies have given up bad goals for far too long.
Almost all of the goals the Boston Bruins scored in a 6-4 win at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night were bad. As tempting as it is to chalk those up to Alex Nedeljkovic’s apparent mental fatigue or Tristan Jarry’s rustiness, at least four of the pucks those goals surrendered were bad.
It’s hockey, and it happens.
The Penguins shouldn’t be in the position they find themselves going into regular season’s waning days.
They wouldn’t have been had they not lost home games in October to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks. They would have had their power play not combined to go 8-for-83 in one-goal losses. They wouldn’t be had they not conceded 12 points in games they entered the third period with a lead, including at the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets and home against the Detroit Red Wings on the 10-game point streak busted by the Bruins.
Again, no hockey season is determined by one play. Suppose the Penguins miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season. In that case, they’ll spend the summer nursing far too many self-inflicted wounds, reliving numerous unforced errors, and probably asking the same question: What if?
President of hockey operations/general manger Kyle Dubas would be foolish to focus too much of his attention in a pivotal offseason on bad goals. His Herculean task is to shed dead-weight contracts — some of them his own doing last summer — while trying to maximize what greatness remains from Crosby. There is a lot more to fix with the Penguins than their goaltending.
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Then again, he has to fix the goaltending.
Marc-André Fleury isn’t walking through that door. The Penguins shouldn’t add more nostalgic acts.
Nor should they be afraid to make a bad trade to rid themselves of Jarry this offseason. He’s not the guy they hoped he’d become — and all they were doing was hoping — when bringing him back at a $5.375 million annual cap hit for five seasons. It wasn’t just Saturday night when he allowed a bad goal.
Before pointing out the other times, about that bad goal…
It wasn’t a bad goal. Jarry hadn’t played in weeks, a lifetime for a goalie, and the Bruins’ Brad Marchand is likely heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Affording Marchand an uncontested short-handed shot is asking for trouble.
Jarry didn’t ask for trouble. He made trouble for himself.
His teammates, coaches, and management can live with Marchand’s goal. Jarry’s inexplicable decision to backhand a pass to a spot on the ice where no teammate would have reasonably anticipated a pass to go was troubling. The decision — whether a mental lapse, panic, or whatever — doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
He made a worse decision in overtime of Game 5 against the New York Islanders in the 2021 playoffs. With any number of low-risk options in front of him, Jarry opted for the high-risk one — and it cost the Penguins that opening-round series.
Jarry was wretched in that series, but it was his first real crack at the postseason. Fleury was overwhelmed by similar high-stakes moments when the Penguins lost to the Ottawa Senators in the 2007 playoffs.
Goalies go through growing pains.
It’s on them to grow. Jarry hasn’t. He’s 28. Will he?
There are numerous issues with Jarry. God-given talent isn’t one. He’s up there with Fleury and Tom Barrasso as the franchise’s most physically gifted goalies.
He’s also ceded the starting job to a perceived lesser talented goalie each of the last two seasons. Nedeljkovic is an upgrade over Casey DeSmith, but neither one had other GMs salivating to compete for a starting job last summer.
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Not to put words into coach Mike Sullivan’s mouth, but he’s lauded Nedeljkovic and DeSmith for “battling” and “conditioning” the past couple of years. Only Sullivan knows if such praise of other goalies is/was allusions to traits he doesn’t see from Jarry, but it’s at least fair to wonder at this point.
When Jarry became the first Penguins goaltender to score a goal earlier this season, the first thoughts that came to mind were the many times he tried to score into an empty net when the moment called for anything else. Coaches call it “situational awareness.” One goal scored by Jarry shouldn’t erase all the occasions on which he has shown little to no awareness — like the pass attempt that preceded Marchand’s goal Saturday night.
Also, even when Jarry has flashed forward progress, his inability to stay healthy has negated it.
Blaming a player for injuries is not fair. Mario Lemieux is one of the greatest ever players, but his back and hips were junk. Crosby didn’t ask for concussions and a broken jaw. Evgeni Malkin’s twice surgically-repaired knee wasn’t a choice.
Injuries happen.
The best ability remains availability, and for whatever reason, Jarry has never been available enough for the Penguins.
It’s telling that perhaps his finest moment with the Penguins was a gutsy effort to play Game 7 in New York against the Rangers on a broken foot in the 2022 playoffs. He conceded after that loss his participation was a one-off because the injury would have prevented him from playing in Round 2.
Jarry cares. Nobody should doubt he cares. He showed that night at Madison Square Garden how much he cares.
Almost every player cares. It’s called being a professional. Caring is the lowest bar to clear for an athlete making millions to play a game he or she loves.
Jarry has shrunk in all the other significant moments.
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The lapses, leaky goals, and losses all add up. The cumulative toll the Penguins have paid is enough for Sullivan to make an easy call on which goalie takes the crease for must-win games against the Nashville Predators and the Islanders on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. Nedeljkovic may have been run into the ground, but he must be the starter.
The Penguins don’t have much of a chance at making the playoffs. Nedeljkovic starting is their only choice at the most important position.
This is not to suggest either Nedeljkovic or Jarry should helm that position for the Penguins after this season. Certainly not both, and the Penguins can probably do just as well next season — scrambling late to slip into the playoffs — with anybody else or any other goaltending combination. The only organizational strength regarding prospects is among goalies, and Joel Blomqvist is ready for his shot in the NHL.
He should get it.
Even if Nedeljkovic pitches a couple of shutouts and helps the Penguins sneak into the playoffs. Even if it means living with some pain at the tail end of Crosby’s fantastic form. Even if Blomqvist isn’t up for the task in the short or long term.
Reliable goaltending when it matters is never promised. The Penguins haven’t had it since Fleury handed Matt Murray the Cup in Nashville, which feels like longer than seven years ago.
Changes need to happen in Pittsburgh, no matter what happens between now and Wednesday night. Goaltending is near the top of the list.
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(Photo of Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic: Joe Sargent / NHLI via Getty Images)
