Some very bad news just came down on the injury front for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tristan Jarry is week-to-week with a lower body injury.
Tristian Jarry is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced.
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) April 16, 2022
Jarry is 34-18-6 with a 2.42 GAA and .919 save percentage in 56 starts this season.https://t.co/fzX5mii4U0
This... is pretty bad news. It is likely Jarry will miss the start of the playoffs. It leaves Casey DeSmith as the starter with Louis Domingue backing up. This is a worst case scenario for the Penguins. As I am typing this the Penguins are already down against the Bruins 2-0 eight minutes into the game on only five shots against.
We don’t know exactly what the injury is for Jarry yet. A goaltender getting hurt is part of the position. Even if you give a proper work load and build in rest they can still get hurt. We know the Penguins haven’t given Jarry a lighter workload and we know he’s been overworked this year. I’m interested to hear what is ailing him and if it is a soft tissue injury (the kind caused by fatigue) of it was just a fluke. It doesn’t change his availability either way, but an injury from being overworked was something many people were pointing out as a potential outcome based on how much the Penguins were using him. This has potential to be a self-inflicted situation and it would be disappointing.
There is a clear drop off and there is nothing the Penguins can do about it right now. They didn’t have the cap space and/or the motivation to shore up the backup position and now it is what it is.
The goaltending position is as volatile as any in sports. There is a path for Casey DeSmith to turn into a world beater and defy logic by playing lights out. I certainly don’t think it is likely, but if you’ve watched enough NHL playoffs over the years you’ve seen goalies come out of nowhere and play great. The Penguins will certainly need this unlikely development to avoid a fourth consecutive first round exit.
Thanks for reading!