Game one was one to forget for the Pittsburgh Penguins, specifically goaltender Tristan Jarry.
For all intents and purposes, the Penguins played well in the 4-3 OT loss to the New York Islanders. The offense was electric, role players contributed while Sidney Crosby netted yet another goal and point against the Isles and the defense for the most part was solid, but when your goaltender plays lackluster, those positives lead to what was a crushing game one loss for the Penguins. Now, before crushing Jarry into the ground like most have, this was his first career playoff start and second career playoff game, and playoff jitters, emotions and anxiety happen, especially for goaltenders. When looking at what Jarry needs to improve on to even up this series, you have to look at his glove hand. The Isles three goals in regulation were all lackluster, none of them should have found the back of the net, but they continued time and time again to attack Jarry's glove hand, which is his weakness and they were rewarded. If Jarry can find a way to improve in that department, he'll be just fine, but prior to this series, head coach of the Isles Barry Trotz pretty much called out Jarry and Casey DeSmith for their lack of playoff experience, hinting that the Penguins can have all the offensive firepower they want, but the Isles will just outscore them. As far as what I have seen, the Penguins have not lost focus or perspective, they know they can even the series up in game two, but even head coach Mike Sullivan said to DK Pittsburgh Sports that he is very confident in how Jarry has handled himself after game one and expects him to be just fine in game two. I personally think the Penguins bounce back in a huge way against the Isles in game two by giving Jarry a lead early and letting him find his footing in the first period and coast from there. The Penguins will relish knowing they can do so with top-level forward play and a solid supporting cast and even the series up tonight at one a piece. Now if they don't? The cause for concern grows and the real possibility of Jarry's goaltending being the downfall for their Stanley Cup hopes grows by the hour.
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