PHILADELPHIA _ In the coming days, Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry will make the trek to St. Louis to play in his first-ever All-Star Game.
It's a well-deserved honor. Over the first 50 games of the season, Jarry became one of the NHL's unlikely leaders in save percentage and goals-against average. Along the way, his emergence was one of the major reasons the Penguins did more than just survive with Sidney Crosby sidelined. They thrived.
But during Pittsburgh's 3-0 loss at Wells Fargo Center, even an All-Star-caliber effort would not have been enough to help Pittsburgh steal a win against an in-state rival during the last game before the break.
Jarry faced several odd-man rushes and five high-danger scoring chances in the first period alone. He made 27 saves on 29 attempts, several of them stellar. However, a pair of second-period goals and an empty-netter sent the Penguins to the break with a loss.
At the same time, the Penguins' offense did little to take pressure off their goaltender, as Flyers goalie Brian Elliott was forced to make just 19 saves for the shutout.
The Flyers _ who entered the night in sixth place in a competitive Metropolitan Division _ got chances early and often. The best of the bunch in the first period came from Joel Farabee. He split the Penguins defense and raced in on a breakaway. But his shot sailed high over the crossbar.
Philadelphia also had a pair of odd-man rushes in the period that Jarry snuffed out to help the Penguins go to intermission with the game still scoreless.
Early in the second period, the tests kept coming for Jarry. Sean Couturier had a beautiful attempt in the slot. But Jarry stirred the attempt wide with the knob of his stick. However, Philadelphia eventually took a 1-0 lead with 14:34 left in the second. Couturier skillfully knifed a pass through the Penguins defense to find Jakub Voracek. He beat Jarry on the backhand.
With just over six minutes left in the second, the Penguins' defense turned the puck over in front of the net. It created a point-blank attempt for Voraceck. Jarry was up to the task to turn the shot away.
But in the closing minutes of the second period, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead. James Van Riemsdyk received a pass in the slot from Travis Konecny and beat Jarry five-hole from point-blank range. Jarry had little chance.
The Penguins have been one of the NHL's best comeback teams in the league. Seven times they've entered the third period trailing and earned a win anyway, including Sunday afternoon's 4-3 over Boston. Only Dallas (eight) has more third-period comebacks.
However, Tuesday's comeback attempt never left the station. Playing without Dominik Kahun (concussion) and Jake Guentzel (who is out at least the rest of the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery), the Penguins are missing two of their two-six wingers.
The injuries forced the Penguins coaching staff to shuffle the lines a bit to start the game. Jared McCann moved from Crosby's left wing to Malkin's line to replace Kahun. That left Crosby to play between Dominik Simon and Patric Hornqvist.
Whether it was the shuffling, effective defensive play from the Flyers or a combination of the two, Pittsburgh failed to find its footing offensively.
Looking for a spark, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan played Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together on the same line for several shifts. The decision led to one of the best opportunities of the night, when Crosby found Bryan Rust in front of the net. But his point-blank attempt was turned away.
Finally, Justin Braun added the empty-netter to settle the final score.
Though the Penguins (31-14-5) failed to gain ground in the standings during the last game before the break, what they accomplished during the first 50 games of the season is remarkable nonetheless considering the adversity they've endured. Through the first significant chunk of the season, the Penguins endured injuries to some of their most critical players including Crosby (28 games missed), Brian Dumoulin (27), Rust (14), Malkin (13) and Guentzel (11), to name a few.
Despite racking up more than 205 man-games to injury, the Penguins enter the break at second place in the Metropolitan Division. They trail only the Washington Capitals (31-11-5), who have tallied 71 points on the season.
Pittsburgh returns to action on Jan. 31 when it hosts the Flyers at PPG Paints Arena.
