As hockey fans and members of the media, we know how easy it is to get caught up in overanalyzing the most minor aspects of our favourite and teams' and players’ games.
It’s easy to get into the over-analysis, and it’s just as easy to forget that players are people, and that errors they make aren’t always a reflection of their skill or lack thereof.
Sometimes, they just mess up.
Tristan Jarry is set to be the Penguins’ goalie of the future, and through five games this postseason, he has a save percentage of .902. The Penguins currently trail the New York Islanders 3-2 in their first round playoff series, and last night, Jarry had a misfortunate blunder in double OT that cost the Penguins the game. Just 51 seconds into the frame, Jarry turned over the puck to the Islanders’ Josh Bailey in a play that ended the contest and pushed the Pens to the brink of elimination.
Since then, Jarry has faced a whole lot of heat about the blunder.
Today, Jarry faced the media head-on about the turnover, and he was borderline hilariously blunt about it.
Fair enough, Tristan!
Though it would be easy to blame the loss on him for an off game, true hockey people know it’s a team sport, and it looks like his squad it rallying around him in the wake of the blunder.
It’s definitely easier to play knowing you have the full confidence of your team and coaches, and we’ll see if Jarry and the Pens can make this series last a little longer when Game 6 goes down tomorrow night.