For the first time ever in Pittsburgh Penguins history, we saw a goalie goal. Late in the third period, with the Tampa Bay Lightning down 3-2 and their goalie pulled, Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry had the puck played perfectly to him, and he decided to let it fly and ended up scoring to make it 4-2 Penguins. His teammates and himself were ecstatic as it proved to be the dagger for a 4-2 Penguins victory.
Even though that was his first goal in the NHL, it was not in his career, as he also scored one in the AHL with the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Penguins. Backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic also has two goals in the AHL, one with the Charlotte Checkers back in 2018 and one with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Penguins back on November 17th. Scoring a goal as a goalie is very rare and difficult and the fact that the Penguins goaltending duo has four career goals combined is very cool to note and impressive.
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Former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie great and three-time Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury has always wanted to score a goal in his NHL career especially for the Penguins who he spent 13 years with. Despite being on the bench for the Minnesota Wild Thursday night, after seeing Jarry’s goal trend on social media, Fleury called the goal awesome and also said good for him, referring to Jarry and his incredible accomplishment. Despite not donning the Black & Gold, it was pretty cool to see a Penguins still being the great person he is and showing respect towards Jarry.
In addition to the goal, Jarry was a key part of the win, as he looked phenomenal and helped keep the Penguins in the game. Jarry had 39 saves on 41 shots compared to the Penguins’ 28 shots. In the last eight games against the Lightning with Jarry in net, the Penguins are 6-2. Despite the Lightning being a very good team for many years, Jarry and the Penguins always find a way to get a win and walk away with two points.
Jarry was not the only player on the Penguins to get his first goal of the season in that win. Veteran forward Jeff Carter was able to find the back of the net to break the 2-2 tie and give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.
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