The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a 5-2 start after recently defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. But there are a lot of people questioning how the Penguins have gotten out to such a hot start, after being so sure that the Penguins would be bottom feeders in the Eastern Conference this season.
There is one major factor as to why the Penguins have started quickly and have confidence every time that they take the ice, their goaltending. Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs both have really done well every time they have rotated in goal.
Head coach Dan Muse has them on a rotation with both playing really well. Through 3 games Jarry is sporting a 2.35 GAA and a .922 save percentage as he recently shutout the Sharks. And then Silovs through 4 games is sporting a 2.26 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
Going into the 2025-26 season, most people expected the Penguins goaltending to be a weakness of the team. But so far, it has been a serious strength of the team. They are getting more saves than they usually get on a game-to-game basis, they are making the big saves when called upon.
Now to say that this type of goaltending is sustainable, could be a flawed statement. There are going to be times as the season goes on, where the goaltending is not going to be the best. The Penguins, especially Tristan Jarry, are known to give up a lot of goals.
But for now, for the time being, it is a welcome sight to see the goaltending doing well and being a strength of the team. And with Muse at the helm, the different voice in the room is really helping the Penguins. There seems to be something that is different with Muse behind the bench.
Penguins fans would hope that this goaltending they are getting will be sustainable all year especially with Muse being behind the bench, but it likely will regress to the mean. But fans should enjoy the good goaltending for now while it lasts and see how far it can take them, maybe even a playoff spot.