The game should be unique all around.<\/p>\n
Skinner and Kulak could debut for the Penguins after being added to the active roster on Monday. Each was unavailable for Pittsburgh’s back-to-back against the San Jose Sharks and Utah Mammoth this weekend due to immigration issues.<\/p>\n
On another note for the Penguins, Sidney Crosby enters the game with 1,721 points (644 goals, 1,077 assists), two shy of Mario Lemieux<\/a> (1,723 points; 690 goals, 1,033 assists) for the franchise record.<\/p>\n For the Oilers, Leon Draisaitl<\/a> is one point away from becoming the first German-born player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points (416 goals, 583 assists in 823 games).<\/p>\n Still, much of the attention will go to Jarry, who’s curious about how he\u2019ll be received.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never know. I hope in a good way,\u201d Jarry said. \u201cI put my heart and soul into this team. I hope they understand that. You never want to go into a game thinking you\u2019re going to lose. You want to win every single game that you set foot on the ice. That\u2019s all I wanted to do was win in Pittsburgh, and I hope I was perceived that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Selected by the Penguins in the second round (No. 44) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Jarry went 161-100-32 with a 2.74 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and 22 shutouts in 307 games (294 starts) for Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom playing my first game in Pittsburgh, playing my first game (with Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton of the American Hockey League), being drafted, there\u2019s so many (memories),\u201d Jarry said. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed my whole time there and every experience that I\u2019ve had, the ups and the downs. I\u2019m very grateful for it all.\u201d<\/p>\n Among Penguins goalies with at least 100 appearances, Jarry ranks third in games played, behind Marc-Andre Fleury<\/a> (691) and Tom Barrasso<\/a> (460), third in GAA, behind Fleury (2.58) and Matt Murray<\/a> (2.67), and fourth in save percentage, behind Murray (.914), Fleury (.912) and Casey DeSmith (.912).<\/p>\n Once considered the successor to Murray, who won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, Jarry was named an NHL All-Star in 2020, when he went 20-12-1 with a 2.43 GAA and .921 save percentage, and again in 2022, when he went 34-18-6 with a 2.42 GAA and .919 save percentage.<\/p>\n However, Jarry couldn\u2019t replicate Murray\u2019s success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He went 2-6 with a 3.00 GAA and .891 save percentage in eight starts from 2020-22, with the Penguins failing to win a single series in that span.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh then failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of the following three seasons.<\/p>\n This season, though, the Penguins (14-8-9) are eyeing a return to the playoffs after getting off to a strong start. As a result, talk of a potential trade at arguably the sport\u2019s most important position could have seemed inevitable.<\/p>\n Jarry said he paid it no mind until he received a phone call from Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never know what\u2019s really going to happen,\u201d Jarry said. \u201cObviously, there\u2019s always rumors out there and there\u2019s always speculation. … So, you kind of always just block it out. You never really pay too much attention to it. But obviously, when I did get the call from Kyle, it became very real.\u201d<\/p>\n Much like the Penguins as a team, Jarry was having a resurgent start to the season, going 9-3-1 with a 2.66 GAA, .909 save percentage and one shutout in 14 games (13 starts). That was coming off a difficult 2024-25 season, which saw him do two stints in the AHL on top of being placed on waivers on Jan. 15. He finished the season, just his second after signing a five-year, $26.875 million contract on July 1, 2023, 16-12-6 with career worsts in both GAA (3.12, minimum three games) and save percentage (.893, minimum three games).<\/p>\n \u201cI think there was a choice to be made there, whether I just kind of wanted to pack it in and play out the rest of my contract there or if I wanted to make a choice and be better for it,\u201d Jarry said. \u201cBeing able to have that choice and being able to do that, I think, brought me back as a better goalie and a better person. That\u2019s ultimately what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n That enticed the Oilers (15-12-6), who have lost to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons despite goaltending questions of their own.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re just a tight group. Coming from Pittsburgh, they\u2019re a tight group, too,\u201d Jarry said. \u201cYou see all the teams that are successful, how tight they are and the friendships that they build. Those are special. You see the friendships and the teammates that you have here in Edmonton, it\u2019s a special group and I\u2019m excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as he began his tenure with the Oilers on Saturday, Jarry still had remnants of his time with the Penguins, wearing his Pittsburgh mask in the start against Toronto.<\/p>\n Will there be a new one on Tuesday?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure. It\u2019s all up in the air,\u201d Jarry said with a smirk. \u201cEverything is happening so quick. I guess I\u2019ll find out tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The game should be unique all around. 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