Tristan Jarry is doing good things in the AHL
Tristan Jarry did well in his first AHL game (detailed here) during his conditioning loan and that continued in the past week. Jarry played and helped Wilkes-Barre to win both of their games in one-goal games.
From Nick Hart at WBSPenguins.com, here is a summary of the games from last week.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 – PENGUINS 4 at Bridgeport 3 (SO)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went to overtime for the first time this season, but emerged victorious thanks to Emil Bemström and Ville Koivunen’s pretty shootout goals. The Penguins raced out to a 2-0 lead in under three minutes of game time, but a three-goal second-period by the Isles put them ahead. Jonathan Gruden forced OT with his second goal of the night.
Saturday, Nov. 2 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Hartford 1
The Penguins and Wolf Pack entered Saturday tied in the Atlantic standings, but now the Black & Gold own a two-point edge over Hartford. Isaac Belliveau’s first AHL goal opened the scoring 33 seconds into the second period, followed by a delayed penalty, extra attacker tally by Koivunen. Jarry and the Penguins clamped down hard in the third to secure victory.
The Bridgeport game was a good one for Jonathan Gruden, he has two goals on the season (eight games) and both were in that night. The NHL Penguins have a surplus of lower line wingers (and growing every day with the return of Blake Lizotte and perhaps soon Matt Nieto making his season debut), but keeping Gruden in reserve and top form will be something to watch.
Ville Koivunen’s name keeps popping up in the recaps for consistent scoring every game. He’s got 2G+6A in eight games (identical stat line to Emil Bemstrom) which puts Koivunen in the top five in points for AHL rookies in the early going - and second in assists.
But the main focus right now is on Jarry. It could hardly be going better for him, 3-0-0, 1.95 GAA and a .937 save% show that his game has stabilized. Jarry has up to two more games that he can play in the AHL and then the 14-day limit of his conditioning loan will expire and he will have to come back to the NHL roster.
That first game is tonight against Lehigh Valley, and then Wilkes plays again on Friday against the same LV team. The post-Jarry portion of the WB/S season continues on Saturday with a home game against Rochester.
Despite the Penguins’ winning streak, they remain in third place since Charlotte has been winning lately as well. But with a 6-2-0 record, WB/S is off to a great start to their year.
A major function for the AHL team is to prepare and provide their NHL affiliate with players, and if Jarry is able to revive his season and bounce back towards being a quality NHL goalie there is a lot of credit and thanks to be delivered to Wilkes for giving him the time and space to get back on track.
