Ladies and gentlemen, we've just seen a unicorn.
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry netted himself a picture perfect empty-net goal this evening against the Tampa Bay Lightning!
Check it out:
GOALIE GOAL! GOALIE GOAL! GOALIE GOAL!
What a snipe by Jarry!
He cradles it perfectly, gives it good height and gets lucky with the bounce.
That's the way to do it, baby!
As you heard on the broadcast, Jarry is now officially the first goaltender in Penguins history to score a goal. Interestingly enough, Jarry managed to score a goal back in 2018 when he was with the team's AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Scoring a goal as a goalie as one thing. Scoring in a professional league is another. Scoring two in two professional leagues is out of this world!
Take a bow, Mr. Jarry!
What's even crazier is that Jarry's backup this evening Alex Nedeljkovic actually scored a goal for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins just two weekends ago!
That's two Penguins goalie goals less than 12 days apart!
Jarry's goal actually sealed a big victory for the Penguins over the Lightning this evening to improve their record to 11-10-1 and get them above .500 for the first time this season. The Penguins have struggled to find their footing this season and a moment like this can have a real way of galvanizing a team and bringing them together. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pens get a little bump in confidence heading into the weekend and back to back games against the Flyers on Saturday and Monday.
Incidentally, the Penguins will be back in Tampa on Wednesday evening for a rematch. I can only hope that the Penguins put Jarry on the point on the PP so that he can tee up some one-timers in order to up his shooting percentage.
I kid, of course, but in all seriousness this is a big moment and a big win for a team that's been kicked around a lot to start the campaign.
