The title of this post was going to be, With Goaltending Like This, Who Needs Enemies. Indeed, Tristan Jarry was up to his old tricks, giving away a lead his teammates had worked so hard to earn.
Then the unexpected happened. In a complete reversal of form, Jarry stiffened and even made some big saves, allowing the Penguins to claw back and snatch a 6-3 victory from the jaws of defeat.
As for the rest of the team? I thought for the most part we gave a full 60-minute effort, even if the results weren’t always there.
The black-and-gold jumped on the homestanding Canadiens early, ringing up an 8-0 advantage on the shot clock and a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by ex-Hab Lars Eller and resurgent Rickard Rakell. We appeared to be in complete command.
Then Jarry did his worst, yielding a late first-period goal to Kaiden Guhle and a power-play tally to monster truck Juraj Slafkovsky early in the second. A classic case of Jarry allowing goals you didn’t want to allow.
When Emil Heineman beat him clean off the rush later in the frame to give the Habs a 3-2 lead…
…does anyone remember the part in A Christmas Story where Ralphie’s dad was fixing the furnace?
