Nashville Predators vs Pittsburgh Penguins Match Player Stats On Mar 30, 2023

Goaltender Tristan Jarry, playing in his 200th career game, stopped all 28 shots he faced Thursday to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins past the visiting Nashville Predators 2-0.

It was the 13th career shutout for Jarry, his first against Nashville and his second of the season. He had not started the previous three games because of an injury and a coach's decision.

The win allowed the Penguins (37-28-10, 84 points) to maintain their hold on the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Florida, which beat Montreal.

The loss kept the Predators (37-29-8, 82 points) from leapfrogging Calgary in the Western Conference wild-card chase. They remain three points out of a playoff spot.

Jason Zucker and Jake Guentzel scored for the Penguins, who were 2-6-0 in their previous eight.

The Predators have lost three of their past four games.

Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros also was stellar, making 43 saves.

The Penguins were playing without three defensemen -- still light compared to the Nashville injury ward.

The Predators are fielding a young lineup because of the absence of a group of veterans: forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene and Juuso Parssinen, and defensemen Roman Josi and Alexandre Carrier.

It was a goaltending duel until 14:15 of the second, when Zucker gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

From the right point, Evgeni Malkin faked a shot and passed to Brian Dumoulin at the top of the slot. Dumoulin moved down the slot and around defenseman Kevin Gravel, who had slid to his stomach. Dumoulin tapped a pass to his left to Zucker, who steered the puck inside the left post.

Among Jarry's critical saves was a left pad stop on Philip Tomasino point blank about nine minutes into the third.

On a power play, the Penguins made it 2-0 at 13:03 of the third. Guentzel, at the right post, tapped in a feed from Rickard Rakell, who was in the left circle and threaded the puck through the crease.

--Field Level Media