Penguins Maintain Playoff Position with Shutout Victory
It can't be said enough how important each game remaining is for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and this win was a big help.
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins are in desperate need for points, and were given a fantastic opportunity to gain ground against a Nashville Predators team missing their top-four point scorers.
Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, and Filip Forsberg were all out for the Predators while they traded Mikael Granlund to the Penguins prior to the trade deadline.
Tristan Jarry was given his 41st start of the season and 200th career game, while also looking to gain consistency.
Both Jarry and Juuse Saros stopped everything they faced in the opening frame to reach the first intermission without a goal on the board.
Jason Zucker has been one of the most productive Penguins all season and he continued his run by opening the scoring well past the midway point of the second period.
The whole play started with a perfect stretch pass from P.O. Joseph before Brian Dumoulin made a perfect move to get a pass to Zucker.
Aside from the goal from Zucker, Saros made the night hard on the Penguins as through two periods they only had one tally on 31 shots.
Third periods have not been kind to the Penguins this season, and with the Florida Panthers putting together a win over the Montreal Canadiens, the Penguins were going to need a solid performance to close the game.
The Penguins made quick work of a power play opportunity with a perfect deflection from Jake Guentzel.
As the clock winded down, it sealed the deal for Jarry's second shutout of the season.
More importantly for the team, their wain maintains their spot in the Eastern Conference wild card race.
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