Penguins’ Biggest Playoff Concerns Should Be Goaltending & Defense

The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost four of their last five games in which Tristan Jarry started between the pipes. Casey DeSmith has shown promise but has leaps and bounds to go before being considered a strong second choice.

After dropping the last two games to their prospective first-round opponent, the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh’s goalie tandem needs to be fully prepared to endure an onslaught of offensive pressure in the playoffs. Jarry is having a career season as the starting netminder with 33 wins, but can he continue this valiant effort beyond the regular season?

Penguins’ Success Depends on Jarry

Goaltending is the ‘make-or-break’ factor for many teams in the playoffs. While Jarry has posted a career 33-15-6 record with an impressive .921 save percentage (SV%) this season, his playoff résumé is overshadowed by his regular-season success. The Penguins have failed to make a decent playoff run during Jarry’s tenure as the starting goalie; he has a 2-5 record in seven postseason games.

Jarry has posted a sub-.900 SV% in recent weeks, and that should be alarming for head coach Mike Sullivan. It’s unlikely that DeSmith gets the starting call this postseason, but considering Jarry’s shortcomings against the Rangers, some changes may be in order. DeSmith also broke the Penguins out of their four-game losing stretch with a bounce-back win against the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon, a feat that surely did not go unnoticed.

Additionally, defensive efforts will surely have to increase tenfold if the Penguins wish to advance past the Rangers. Not only has their goaltending struggled to find its footing as of late, but their back-end has suffered as well, although, captain Sidney Crosby, as well as a few other impactful players, were absent from the 3-0 loss to the Rangers. However, the team’s overall defensive sloppiness and lousy goaltending are things the Penguins desperately need to clean up in order to avoid yet another embarrassing early-round exit.