Jarry makes 23 saves, Penguins blank Jets to spoil Monahan's debut

PITTSBURGH -- Tristan Jarry made 23 saves, and the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled Sean Monahan’s debut for the Winnipeg Jets with a 3-0 win at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

The shutout was Jarry’s NHL-leading sixth of the season and 19th of his career.

“We all did the right thing. I think that gave us the upper hand tonight,” Jarry said. “Obviously, we’re not in the position that we want to be. I think, obviously, that’s the goal. We want to be in a playoff position. That’s going to be the goal at the end of the season."

Kris Letang, Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins (23-17-7), who have won two in a row and played for the first time since a 3-2 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 27.

Monahan had one shot on goal for the Jets (30-13-5), who have scored three total goals in four straight losses (0-3-1). Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves.

“The similarity in the four games right now is our inability to score,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “We're not getting outplayed. We're just not scoring right now. The offense is a little out of sync.”

Monahan, who was acquired in a trade with the Canadiens on Friday, won three of five face-offs in 15:26 of ice time.

“I liked his game,” Bowness said. “He uses his wingers well. Makes really smart plays with the puck. He's reliable. Again, for our first game after a break, very happy with his game."

Letang put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 7:16 of the first period, scoring on a backhand from the slot.

“It hasn’t been a strength of our overall team game in this first part of the season,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the first period. “A lot of it is a mindset going in and a certain discipline to play the game the right way. ... I thought we made pretty good decisions with the puck, for the most part, against a team that’s hard to play against.”

Penguins forward Noel Acciari was helped to the locker room at 4:15 of the second period after taking an illegal check to the head from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was given a match penalty.

Pittsburgh scored twice on the five-minute power play.

“Five minutes is a long time,” Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk said. “They got a couple bounces, but at the end of the day, our kill has to get the job done. They beat us in the special teams tonight. Plain and simple.”

Carter extended it to 2-0 at 7:33, collecting a loose puck off a shot from Erik Karlsson deflected by Lars Eller for a spinning shot around Hellebuyck’s left pad.

Rust pushed it to 3-0 at 9:03, tapping in a loose puck in the crease off a backhand pass from Jake Guentzel. Sidney Crosby had the secondary assist to extend his point streak to eight games (five goals, five assists).

The Penguins have altered their power play, splitting Crosby and Evgeni Malkin between the two units. Letang elevated to the point on the first unit, moving fellow defenseman Erik Karlsson to the same spot on the second.

“Sometimes you just need change,” said Guentzel, who played his 500th NHL game. “And when it's not going well, change is inevitable. ... It's a little bit of a wakeup call for us to move the puck a little quicker and just get shots on net."

Mark Scheifele, returning after missing six games with a lower-body injury, seemed to cut the deficit to two goals with a one-timer at 6:44 of the third period, but the goal was waved off when the play was ruled offside following a Penguins coach’s challenge.

"We had a ton of good looks. [Jarry] made some big saves,” Scheifele said. “They blocked a lot of shots, had some good sticks. I don't think it's anything to get frustrated about. We made a lot of good plays. We had a lot of good entries. Nothing to be frustrated about there."

NOTES: Acciari continued to be evaluated after the game, Sullivan said. ... Forward Jesse Puljujarvi had two shots on goal in 9:41 of ice time in his Penguins debut, his first NHL game since having bilateral hip surgery this offseason. The 25-year-old, selected No. 4 overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2016 NHL Draft, signed a two-year, $1.6 million contract on Sunday after joining Pittsburgh on a professional tryout Dec. 10. ... Penguins forward Reilly Smith had two shots on goal in 18:22 in his return from an upper-body injury. He had not played since Jan. 11.