Jarry hits ice to skate on his own
Goalie makes significant step toward return from broken foot
Penguins No. 1 netminder Tristan Jarry took a significant step forward Saturday in his recovery from injury.
He individually skated for the first time since breaking a bone in his foot. Before the optional morning skate, Jarry worked with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo. He shuffled around the crease, focusing on positioning and footwork.
“It’s significant that he’s on the ice,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It always is when a player takes that jump in the rehab process. I’m not going to speculate on where he goes moving from here, but we’re certainly really encouraged with this day.”
Jarry was initially injured on April 14 against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. At the time, the club termed his status as week-to-week.
Even with Jarry back on the ice, his return is not yet imminent. The Penguins ideally would like to give Jarry several good, hard full team practices in order to reacclimate to real action.
“It’s awesome to see Tristan tie the skates up and put the pads on,” forward Brock McGinn said. “He was obviously very good for us all year and it’s nice to see him get back out on the ice and try and get back here.”
With Jarry still out and backup Casey DeSmith recovering from core muscle surgery, third goalie Louis Domingue will make his second consecutive postseason start in Saturday’s Game 3 at PPG Paints Arena. While Domingue allowed five goals in Game 2, his performance was better than those stats would suggest with several goals coming from deflections in front and one off a fluky bounce off a skate.
“Louis is an awesome goalie,” McGinn said. “He’s got a lot of confidence and we have a lot of belief in him.”
Zucker back in action
Elsewhere on the injury front, Jason Zucker was a game-time decision for the second consecutive contest. But this time, he was a go for Game 3. He rejoined the group skating on Jeff Carter’s wing, with McGinn as the third.
Zucker has weathered a challenging season mired by injury. He was forced to undergo core muscle surgery in mid-January. Even after returning, he has twice been sidelined since.
What can be expected when he comes back?
Well, Zucker himself termed his 2020-21 season “awful” after he tallied just nine goals in 38 games. This year, he scored eight times in 41. So he’d agree that he’d like to produce more.
But consider this: During the past two postseasons, Zucker been the Penguins’ most productive player. He’s scored four goal in the past two years. Postseason hockey is a different animal. Zucker appears to play a game that fits that style and has the gamer mentality to step up.
“Playoff hockey there’s another level of intensity to it,” Sullivan said. “There’s a certain level of physicality associated with playoff hockey that’s different, and it’s a high-stakes environment. Some of it is tangible stuff like guys that are more physical that thrive in that type of environment tend to excel. But I also think there are intangibles, and that’s the ability to perform well when the stakes are high. Jason has shown an ability to do that.
“I think he plays a northsouth game. He’s good in the battle areas. He’s got some edge to his game. And I think he embraces the playoff atmosphere. He embraces the high stakes environment and he embraces the physicality that’s associated with playoff hockey.”
Other injury news
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin sat out for the second consecutive playoff game.
The Penguins top-pairing lefty missed Game 2 at Madison Square Garden with a lower-body injury. He did not participate in Friday’s optional practice nor in Saturday’s optional morning skate. The absence forced the Penguins to once again reshuffle their defensive pairs.
Mike Matheson skated alongside Kris Letang on the top pair, as he did in Game 2. Mark Friedman jumped into the lineup to play alongside Chad Ruhwedel.
“[Friedman] is a guy that competes hard,” Sullivan said. “He’s a real competitive guy. I thought he competed real well. He’s a mobile skater, so he gets back to pucks. He helped us on the breakout. He joined the rush that one time and ended up with a real good chance at the offensive end.”
Meanwhile, Rickard Rakell, who absorbed a big hit to the head area in Game 1, continued his on-ice rehab. He skated individually with skills coach Ty Hennes.