Mark Madden: Penguins need Tristan Jarry to rebound before it's too late

Very rarely does one player lose a hockey game.

But that’s what happened Sunday. Tristan Jarry was that player. Jarry’s rotten goaltending was the primary reason the Penguins lost Game 1 to the New York Islanders.

None of the four goals conceded was terrible. But they all were stoppable. You can’t allow four like that. You can’t allow four, period. That’s just too many.

Three pucks sailed right past Jarry’s glove, a spot the Islanders seem to be targeting. The other went through Jarry. Jarry’s most familiar flaw was on clear display: Too deep in the net. Get out on your angle properly and perhaps a few of those pucks hit you.

Kyle Palmieri’s overtime goal was a pinpoint shot, i.e. — real lucky. That’s Palmieri shooting, not Mike Bossy. Take a step toward Palmieri, and that gap is covered.

Does Jarry think? Does he want to learn? Get your skates off the goal line. Make yourself big. He has to know what’s wrong. He’s being told. Why doesn’t he act?

Jarry made some quality saves. But great stops don’t take bad goals out of the net.

Jarry made same shaky stops, too. He was too often stabbing at the puck. Fighting it.

There are no good options. Casey DeSmith has been hurt, and he’s not even as trustworthy as Jarry in this situation. Maxime Lagace will be the choice of panicky talk-show callers, but facing the Islanders in the playoffs isn’t like shutting out last-place Buffalo in a meaningless game.

Jarry must start Game 2. He must play better, or this series will be just about over.

I’ve said and written that the Penguins’ championship window seemed to shut after they lost to Washington in 2018’s second round. But this year they outperformed expectations, won the East division, and optimism for the playoffs ran wild.

But they lost Game 1. They have lost 10 of 11 playoff games. Has the Penguins’ postseason mojo died? Is it ever coming back? Did we overrate the Penguins and underrate the Islanders?

These are reasonable questions.

Jarry lost Sunday’s game. But the Penguins’ performance was sketchy and obviously not good enough to overcome Jarry’s failings.

The Penguins came out brightly enough and had the better of play through most of two periods. But they never extended their lead to two goals. Jeff Carter’s careless high stick gave the Islanders a four-minute power play at 12:25 of the second period. The Islanders didn’t score with that advantage, but they seized momentum and never gave it back.

The third period and overtime mostly belonged to the Islanders. Their speed and system took control. The Penguins became unthreatening.

The game looked like an extension of the Islanders’ series sweep in 2019. That’s the most disturbing takeaway. The Islanders used smart neutral-zone play to manufacture the occasional odd-man break or breakaway, too often outskating the Penguins.

The Penguins didn’t shoot often enough or quickly enough. Sidney Crosby was brilliant, but he didn’t convert a few clear opportunities, got robbed once and passed up a couple of shots. Zach Aston-Reese badly overcomplicated a nailed-on scoring chance. Evgeni Malkin’s absence meant the Islanders could pay attention to Carter’s line, which had a quiet afternoon.

Beyond Kris Letang, the Penguins’ defense was subpar. Mike Matheson handled the puck like he was beating a snake to death with a tree branch and gave Jarry a run for his money when it came to being the overtime goat. Even the reliable Brian Dumoulin struggled.

But it’s only one game, right? You always hear that after losing the opening contest of a series. “It’s only one game.”

We heard that in 2019, for example. And again in 2020. “It’s only one game.” Both those games ended in overtime, by the way.

Uh-oh.