Tristan Jarry, Penguins blow another two-goal lead in OT loss to Lightning

PITTSBURGH — Tristan Jarry was oh-so close to taking a step in the right direction Tuesday. But he was again on the losing end as the Penguins blew their latest multi-goal lead.

Jarry stopped the first 26 shots he faced against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But the Penguins couldn’t hold a 2-0 lead and lost, 3-2, in overtime at PPG Paints Arena.

Jarry is still looking for his first win in the NHL since Oct. 14, a win in Montreal.

The 29-year-old recently spent two weeks in the American Hockey League, trying to discover his game on a conditioning stint, before rejoining Pittsburgh last week. He got rocked in his return, giving up five goals in Thursday’s loss at Columbus.

Coach Mike Sullivan turned back to Jarry on Tuesday even though Alex Nedeljkovic had won their previous game, a 4-3 shootout win against San Jose here Saturday.

Jarry’s start Tuesday was much better than the loss at Columbus, when he allowed two goals on the first four shots. And he was solid as the Penguins built their lead.

Marcus Pettersson set up Jesse Puljujarvi for the ice-breaking goal 12:05 into the game. Out at the point, the defenseman leaned to his left then slipped a deceptive pass across the grain to Puljujarvi, who raced to the right post to slam it home.

Jarry was sharp early on to allow the Penguins to grab that 1-0 lead. He kicked out his pad to deny Nick Paul on the doorstep, made five saves on the penalty kill and stopped Anthony Cirelli’s shot from the slot 31 seconds before Puljujarvi’s goal.

During the second period, Jarry kept the lead intact by fighting off a shot from his former teammate, Jake Guentzel, when the Lightning twisted in on a 2-on-2 rush.

Rickard Rakell pushed the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal soon after that. He rifled a one-timer from the slot past the blocker of star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Alas, for the eighth time in 21 games, the Penguins gagged up a multi-goal lead.

The Lightning finally beat Jarry on their 27th shot. The Penguins killed a penalty early in the third period. But they were out of sorts on a line change when Brayden Point swooped behind their net then roofed a backhand shot over Jarry’s glove.

Cirelli tied it with 7:11 remaining in regulation. Cirelli centered it to Brandon Hagel from behind the net. Jarry tried to break up the pass but it went in.

Point beat Jarry for the game-winning goal with 1:02 remaining in overtime.

Ice chips

— Sidney Crosby is still at 599 career goals. He almost got the milestone goal during the second period when he rang a hard shot off the right post behind Vasilevskiy.

— Sam Poulin earned his first point of the season with an assist on Puljujarvi’s goal. He hustled to keep the puck in the zone then quickly moved it over to Pettersson.

— Puljujarvi has scored in two games in a row, continuing to display chemistry with Poulin and his other linemate, Drew O’Connor, who lined up in the middle again.

— Rakell’s goal was Pittsburgh’s second power-play tally in the last seven games.

— Rookie defenseman Owen Pickering was solid again in his second career game.

— Kris Letang missed his third consecutive game due to an illness. However, he felt well enough to participate in the morning skate at UMPC Lemieux Sports Complex. Kevin Hayes, on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, also joined the skate.

— Cody Glass, who has a concussion, skated on an individual basis in the morning.

— Ryan Graves and Valtteri Puustinen were again the healthy scratches Tuesday.

Coming up

The Penguins have practices scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday ahead of their weekend back-to-back against Winnipeg then Utah on home ice.