With Tristan Jarry struggling, Joel Blomqvist has helped pick up the slack for the Penguins

The expectations for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25 depend on who you ask. Some thought the club would snap their two-year playoff drought and clinch one of the Eastern Conference’s two Wild Card spots, while others couldn’t see the Penguins manufacture offense beyond the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Through seven games, they’re somewhere in the middle. Goaltending has been a major point of convern, with Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic struggling, meaning Joel Blomqvist has had to step up. While he’s had some strong performances in the first two weeks of the season, the Penguins need to make a move in the crease if they want to make the playoffs this spring.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen and Tyler Yaremchuk are joined by former NHL goaltender Carton Hutton for another edition of the Blue Paint to discuss the Penguins’ situation in net and Blomqvist’s impact on the group.

Tyler Yaremchuk: There is no crease situation that is spicer than what is going on in Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry was healthy scratched – you do not hear about goalies getting healthy scratched – what do you make of his struggles, and what do you think of the way Joel Blomqvist is playing in the meantime?

Carter Hutton: The young kid has come in and played very well. He’s 2-2-0 with a .908 save percentage, and in those losses, he lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes, those are tough games that you usually try to protect your young kids from playing in.

When it comes to Jarry, I feel like this is a question we’ve always had with this guy. There’s times where he’s been solid, but in his last 17 games, he’s lost 11, and in the six wins within that 17-game stretch, the Penguins have averaged 5.7 goals for, so they protect him with offense.

At this point, I think Jarry needs a change of scenery. I know you can’t ride Blomqvist by any means, but Alex Nedeljkovic didn’t fare too well in his last start. Something’s gotta change in Pittsburgh, because this is getting old.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…l