After the Penguins’ and starting goaltender Tristan Jarry’s 6-0 loss to the New York Rangers in Pittsburgh’s season opener, the team headed to Detroit for the second of a back-to-back. Head coach Mike Sullivan knew he planned on naming rookie Joel Blomqvist the starter against the Red Wings.
What he didn’t know is that he would do the same thing on Saturday in Toronto.
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Blomqvist impressed in his NHL debut, stopping 29 of 32 shots and earning his first career win. He made several saves in key moments – especially early on, when Detroit was pressuring – and helped preserve the lead for his team through the end.
Ahead of Saturday’s game against Toronto, Sullivan was asked if Blomqvist’s performance in Detroit influenced their decision who to start in net.
“It had an impact, without a doubt,” Sullivan said. “We thought he played extremely well.”
Before the game even happened, the decision set Penguins’ fan and media circles ablaze. Many referenced the stretch run at the end of 2023-24, when backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic started 13 straight games to close out the regular season – including the final game of the season against the New York Islanders, which ended up being meaningless.
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If you put all of these things together, it does not appear that the organization has a high degree of confidence in Jarry. There were rumors that Jarry was on the trade block at both the deadline last season and at the beginning of the summer, and many are critical of the five-year, $26.88 million contract he was awarded last summer.
In this situation, there are a few contextual factors to consider.
For one, Nedeljkovic is skating with the team and made the road trip. It is possible that he is close to a return, and the Penguins simply wanted to ensure that Blomqvist got another start before being sent back to the AHL. It makes sense for Pittsburgh to give their promising rookie goaltender as much experience as possible.
In addition, giving Blomqvist a second consecutive start against an elite NHL team rewards him for his good performance in the first game, which is a big confidence builder for a young goaltender. The last thing a team wants is for their top goaltending prospect to lose traction and confidence, especially if he figures to be a big part of the team’s future.
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But if you look at this same situation through the lens of Jarry, it’s certainly not ideal. For the same reasons you don’t want to disrupt the confidence of your young goaltender, you don’t want to sour the confidence of the first goaltender on your depth chart.
Sullivan said repeatedly throughout training camp that the team was impressed with Jarry’s shape coming into camp and that they were really happy with the work he put in over the summer. So, when that same coach doesn’t go back to him in a big game on Hockey Night in Canada after one rough start against one of the NHL’s top teams – and in favor of a rookie, at that – it’s not exactly a glowing endorsement.
When asked about the goaltending situation with Jarry on Sunday, things got a little testy:
Me: Mike, what the message to Tristan after a couple games that he didn’t start?
Mike Sullivan: He’s a good goalie. You guys are overthinking this —as you always do…
In fairness, it’s that’s my job. And things like this are a lot more fun than explaining small area team vs…
— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) October 13, 2024
It will be interesting to see how things shake out with the goaltending situation this season. But if Blomqvist continues to impress, it may just make one of Jarry or Nedeljkovic expendable.
Teams need goaltending help throughout the season. The Penguins have plenty of depth at the goaltending position in their organization.
So, the coming days – just like Blomqvist’s performance in Detroit – could have an impact on the Penguins’ goaltending plans looking forward to the rest of the season.
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