Jarry hopes to get a clean slate with the Penguins after returning from the AHL

CRANBERRY, Pa. — Tristan Jarry grew up rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Since his debut on April 9, 2017 at the age of 21, the goaltender has succeeded Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray as the main starter.

“That’s all,” said Jarry. “It’s something I’ll always love, being able to pull that jersey on.”

Jarry was back in practice gear Sunday, one day after being called up on a conditional loan with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

In his ninth NHL season, the 29-year-old is hoping for a clean slate.

“I hope so,” said Jarry. “I want to come back here, and I want to play well. That’s my goal. That’s what I want to do. I want to help this team as much as possible. Whenever I’m in the net, I think about giving them a chance. a chance to win and help this team get to a good place.”

Jarry is 1-1-0 with a 5.47 goals-against average and .836 save percentage in three NHL games. He was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in the first half of his most recent NHL start against the Buffalo Sabers on Oct. 16. Joel Blomqvist made 26 saves in relief of a 6-5 overtime win at Pittsburgh.

After going with the Penguins on a road trip to Western Canada, Jarry was scratched for the first two games before being recalled to Pittsburgh on Oct. 23. Moved down to AHL on Oct. 26 and was 4-1-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .926 save percentage.

“It was good, the team played well down there,” said Jarry. “That team did a great job. They work really hard. It was nice to come down and play some games, play games in a row. I thought I played very well.”

“Obviously, it’s not easy when you have to choose your family and move to a different place and play certain sports. I think it’s all part of the challenge. That’s what you sign up for as a hockey player. Obviously,” there’s a lot of uncertainty in hockey, so I think it’s being able to choose play your game anywhere.”

Jarry said he talked to general manager Kyle Dubas early on.

“We thought it would be a good idea to be able to go down and play consecutive games, because we have three goalkeepers here,” said Jarry. “I think it really helped me.”

It’s early but for Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan, it could work.

“He played very well,” said Sullivan. “I think it was everything we expected when the ‘Jars’ came down for the games. He played very well when he was there. He embraced the program, now it’s our challenge to meet him again and that’s what we aim to do.”

Jarry shared the net with Alex Nedeljkovic in training on Sunday. Blomqvist worked alone on the other side before the game against the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena on Monday (7pm ET; Victory+, SN-PIT, TVAS).

Nedeljkovic is 2-3-2 with a 3.07 GAA and .883 save percentage after missing the start of the season with a lower-body injury. Blomqvist, a 22-year-old rookie, is 3-4-0 with a 3.25 GAA and a .913 save percentage.

“I think, at the end of the day, that’s going to work out,” Sullivan said. “In the short term, we feel like we have three talented guys. I think ‘Blommer’ played really well. I think ‘Ned’ played really hard too. Jars, obviously, has a lot of work to do here we’re doing well. understood i.

“We’re going to put together a game plan where we’re going to keep all these guys together. I think one of the potential benefits is that one of them will get more practice time, if the goalkeeper doesn’t support. up, for example.”

Jarry, an NHL All-Star in 2020 and 2022, is 86-25-19 with a 2.72 GAA, .911 save percentage and 19 shutouts with the Penguins. Entering the season, playing in the AHL for the first time since 2018-19 was unexpected.

The answer, says Jarry, is what matters.

“I think it’s just having a strong mind, a strong mental game. I think that’s all you can do,” Jarry said. “Obviously, the start of the season didn’t happen the way I wanted, I ended up doing it [Wilkes-Barre] and I was able to play very well, so I think those games will help. They will help your confidence.

“Winning a few games in a row helps your game, so just being able to do that and refine your game, I think it’s going to help a lot. Hopefully, it translates up here.”