A 26-year-old rookie scored his first career goal, a former coach got some love in his first return, and the Penguins went as far as their goalie could take them.
Here are three things we learned in the NHL Wednesday.
A first for Jerabek
After collecting the first two points of his NHL career against the New York Islanders with two assists on Monday, Jakub Jerabek added his first goal to the tally against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.
The Canadiens were off to the races early, with the goal coming after just 31 seconds.
The Czech defenceman took a shot from the left point after receiving the puck from Charles Hudon, and his captain Max Pacioretty helped create a crowd in front of the net to ensure the shot squeezed past a blindsided Tuukka Rask.
Too bad it was nothing but misery for the Habs from that point on.
Bruins fans still have love for Julien
Claude Julien made his first return to Boston since being fired by the Bruins, and the fans gave him a nice ovation after a video tribute that was just over a minute long during the first period.
That’s where the hospitality ended, though, as the Bruins scored four unanswered goals from that point on to give Julien a miserable return to a place where he has such fond memories.
Julien took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final twice over the course of his 10 seasons with the team, and finished with the most wins ever for a Bruins coach with 393.
Rough night for Jarry
When a team scores 24 goals over the course of their last five wins, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening on the other end.
Tristan Jarry had played all of those games – missing a loss to Carolina – heading into Wednesday’s game against Anaheim and had a .962 save percentage in four of those games.
It looked like business as usual as the Penguins took the lead early in the second period courtesy of a goal by Evgeni Malkin, but it was mostly downhill after that. Jarry was repeatedly beaten in the 5-3 loss, allowing four or more goals for just the fourth time in 18 games this season.
With Penguins starter Matt Murray out indefinitely following the death of his father, Jarry will continue to play a vital role in the Pittsburgh crease. The Penguins and their fans will hope this is just a blip on the radar.
[relatedlinks]
