Tristan Jarry was by far Pittsburgh's best player, and the biggest reason the Penguins were able to get a 3-2 shootout victory over the Jets. The 26-year-old goaltender was named the game's No. 1 Star after producing 27 saves, with many of those coming on high-quality scoring chances.
"Obviously, he was unbelievable for us," Kris Letang said.
The Jets came out flying - pun intended - from the first shift of the game. But Jarry was ready, making two Grade-A stops in the opening minute of play. And while Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler was able to get his team on the board 3:28 in, the Penguins may have found themselves in a hole they couldn't get out of if it wasn't for Jarry.
Over the first 40 minutes of play, Jarry absolutely stood on his head to keep his team in it - stopping two shorthanded breakaways, cross-ice re-directs and open looks from the slot - to keep the score at a manageable 2-0 deficit going into the second intermission.
"We know they have a lot of speed, a lot of skill," Letang said. "They want to attack on the rush, make plays. We didn't play the right way the first two periods."
Jarry's spectacular play allowed his teammates to regroup and mount a comeback in the third, where Kasperi Kapanen and Jeff Carter scored nine seconds apart to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime.
"The Jets are a great team," Jarry said. "They play a hard game, they're a heavy team and I think they put a lot of pucks on net. They have a good transition game. They forecheck hard, and I think that was something that we struggled with at the beginning. We caught ourselves in the third period and we started to put a lot of pucks on net and going to the net.
"You see some of the goals that we scored, and they're not exactly picture perfect, but they end up going in and it gives us a huge momentum swing for our team, and it helps us get back in it."
Jarry continued his heroics in the extra period, where he made five huge stops, before not allowing a goal to any of Winnipeg's three skaters in the shootout to earn his 22nd win of the season. That is tied for second-most in the NHL with Nashville's Juuso Saros.
"He's played really sound hockey for us. I thought he had a terrific game tonight," head coach Mike Sullivan said.
I asked Jarry after the game if he changed anything about his approach with this being an earlier game, like maybe drinking more coffee (which he doesn't drink at all, by the way), or if not changing his approach is what allows him to perform the way he did today.
"I think it's just the consistent approach," Jarry replied. "Being able to do the same thing every game day and have the same routine, I think that just puts you in a good mindset and good place coming into the game that you know you're prepared and know what you need to do. I think that helps me prepare for every game, and I think that's helped a lot this year."
He really has been absolutely locked in on every level, and it's been so special to watch Jarry put together an All-Star season like this considering
the disappointing finish to last year
. So much credit to him for learning from it and coming back stronger than ever to be completely rock-solid between the pipes.
"Some people they would let creep into their mind what happened the year before, but he's focused on being in the moment," Letang said. "He forgets about things and he just works. He works hard in practice, he's in his own bubble like most goalies (laughs). He's a guy that's just going to live in the moment and focus on doing the right thing in that moment. He's a laidback guy, doesn't seem to worry, seems like he's played 20 years already. He's been awesome this year."
