I mean, really, how much of Tristan Jarry does everyone inside the Penguins' orbit need to see to be completely convinced that he's precisely what he is, what he's always been?

It's been 11 years since he was drafted, nine years since his NHL debut here, and he's yet to impress upon anyone here so much as a single impactful memory, aside from scoring a goal himself a year ago and, of course, for setting up a playoff overtime winner ... for the opponent:

DKPS

Sorry. Too easy.

But then, maybe it's needed. Because here we are, in yet another season where far too much about this franchise as a whole is being defined by Jarry's goaltending, not least of which was the 6-2 loss to the Avalanche on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, where the crowd of 15,632 could collectively groan after five of Colorado's first 23 shots.

Some real stinkers in there, too:

Nathan MacKinnon's a glorious talent, and he'd wind up with five points, but that wrister glides under Jarry's left armpit, an unsightly scene even if it weren't from such distance.

Mikko Rantanen doesn't rank much below MacKinnon, and he'd wind up with a hat trick and five points of his own, but ... uh, yeah.

That one up there was the coup de gross, at least for me. I can take whiffing on a wrister. I can take the odd bad-angle bummer. What I can't take is a lack of fight.

Oh, I dig into all the guilty parties on this backbreaking Valeri Nichushkin power move just below, but that doesn't mean the goaltender gets off. Not when Jarry's heels stay planted way back beneath his bleeping crossbar. Not when Nichushkin's permitted to cut across the crease as if that's his territorial right. And certainly not when, as one NHL evaluator would share with me up in the press box, Jarry should've "chopped him down like a tree coming through there."

But that's what he is, what he's always been.

I asked Jarry afterward to describe that goal:

"He's a big guy, he's got a long reach," he'd begin, referring to Nichushkin's 6-4, 210-pound stature. "And I think I was just being a little too aggressive, trying to poke the puck as he was pulling it from backhand to forehand, and he was able to get around me just with his long reach."

I respect that response. He's paid to tend goal, so he's a first-hand expert. What's more, I'm certain that he means every syllable he's speaking there.

But go back up and watch the goal again, including all the replay angles illustrated, and good luck selling that as aggressive. Or even peripherally competitive.

Look, I'm not about to pile on here. I've seen enough. That's all.

I no longer care if this is about the Penguins continuing to treat a 29-year-old as if he's still somehow a prospect with upside. Nor do I care if this is Kyle Dubas trying to salvage a five-year, $26.9 million contract that's stuck to the team's payroll ledger through 2028. Nor do I care how Dubas might go about moving him to another team, nor how much Fenway Sports Group money might need to be gulped in the process.

I do care that this team for-real could've won this game, with even a couple of above-average saves at various points. And that this team had won six of seven before this. And that the bulk of this player group's giving all it can. And that, looking further ahead, part of the challenge in building with youth will include not fearing that every flipping mistake will wind up a minus.

I also care that Jarry's save percentage is now a sorry .881, seventh-worst among the 50 NHL goaltenders to have appeared in 10-plus games this season.

And that, stunningly, he's now given up a goal within the first five shots he's faced in nine of the 11 games he's started, including this one. Four times, he's been beaten by the first shot.

Maybe Mike Sullivan's caring, as well, judging by his terse reply when asked if Jarry had just taken a step back: "Yeah, I thought so. I didn't think he was as good tonight."

That's not how Sullivan generally assesses his goaltending in public.

Enough already. Joel Blomqvist's 22, same age as Matt Murray when the latter arrived as a rookie, only to lift the Stanley Cup that ensuing summer, and he's shown plenty enough that he never should've been sent back to Wilkes-Barre, least of all for a long-established lost cause.

Figure it out. This ain't it.

Even setting aside Tristan Jarry's passivity, there was plenty more to loathe about the Valeri Nichushkin power-move goal from the Pittsburgh perspective, beginning with how he didn't even have any momentum crossing the attacking blue line. Started from a standstill:

From there, Rickard Rakell, who's the high forward, or F3, and has arrived in plenty of time to apply back-pressure, instead skates a wide, aimless circle in the Penguins' zone. Marcus Pettersson just gets scorched wide. And Erik Karlsson, who might've moved across in a clear emergency, barely budges.

I asked Mike Sullivan what he saw there, and he replied, "Yeah, we had numbers back. We just got beat. We could've had backside help. We didn't get backside help. We didn't have back-pressure, either. It's a combination of things."

Pettersson's view: "Yeah, that's unfortunate. I made a misread on that 4-2 goal, and that's a killer. I stopped in the neutral zone. He's a very good player, a deceptive player. I made a bad read."

• I'm running out of ways to describe how devastatingly awful Matt Grzelcyk's been, even as opponents appear to torment him, but his formula on this night at least was familiar:

Yeah, the old ill-timed, ill-advised, ill-supported pinch. Just take one look at Blake Lizotte still being low -- and in full view -- to know that Grzelcyk had no business bumping up there, particularly with Nathan MacKinnon out there. That's not a system issue. That's just ... bad.

I can't anymore with this guy. I just can't.

• Sidney Crosby vs. his best bud MacKinnon didn't exactly bubble over: Sid had no points, two shots, five attempted shots and, at the least, a superb 27-10 showing on faceoffs, while MacKinnon had a goal, four assists, a plus-4 rating and all of the wow factors available. Imagine them on a line together in a couple months.

• It was terrific to see Phil Tomasino back and, almost instantly, creating offense again. No trace of his upper-body injury. Can't afford to have him cooling off.

• It was equally terrific to see Cody Glass rewarded with another all-around solid effort with his first goal in this sweater, thanks to an exceptional look from Evgeni Malkin:

"It was a good feeling," Glass would say of scoring. "At one point, I didn't think I was ever gonna score again. But that's what happens when you play with Geno. He'll find you anywhere."

Dude's got some offense to him. He's no plugger. Mike Sullivan slid him up to the second line with Geno and Tomasino, bumping Drew O'Connor down, and he made it stand up.

• Several players on the roster are more talented than Michael Bunting, but only Bunting plants himself in places to score goals like these:

There's no reason, between what's above, all his other offense of late and his innate ability to fill the bumper role on the power play, that he shouldn't be on the No. 1 unit. As in, now.

• Scratching Jesse Puljujarvi and suiting up Noel Acciari -- yet again the Penguins' least productive player in terms of general team possession -- blows my mind, no matter how often similar moves get made. One player's been immensely visible, at least when he's permitted to participate, and the other brings borderline nothing.

• Everyone blamed themselves in the room blah blah. Chiefly Marcus Pettersson for the fourth goal. Hated letting Valeri Nichushkin by like that. 

• I asked Tristan Jarry about it. He said he played it “too aggressively” in going for the poke. 

• I asked Mike Sullivan about that fourth goal, and he stated the obvious in, “We just got beat,” but added, “There could’ve been back-pressure, too.” That’s an apparent reference to Rickard Rakell, which is why I’ve cited three skaters, not just Pettersson, for allowing that zone entry.

• Sullivan, asked if this represented a backward step for Jarry: “Yeah, I thought so.”

• Walking home to write and record. 

Just a reminder after tonight’s debacle that Jack St. Ivany won’t be available for any changes on D anytime soon. Mentioned this last Wilkes-Barre/Scranton game but he’s been out with an upper-body injury and is week-to-week.

Warmups have wound up. Still no official lineups, but Phil Tomasino was out there, which is certainly encouraging. Come on over to the LIVE FILE!

The Penguins will start Tristan Jarry in goal tonight vs. the Avalanche, and they’re considering Phil Tomasino a game-time decision, per Mike Sullivan.

Tomasino's been on the ice with the team two days in a row, including today's morning skate, coming off an upper-body injury sustained this past Friday in New York.

• I'm running out of ways to describe how devastatingly awful Matt Grzelcyk's been, even as opponents appear to torment him, but his formula on this night at least was familiar:

Yeah, the old ill-timed, ill-advised, ill-supported pinch. Just take one look at Blake Lizotte still being low -- and in full view -- to know that Grzelcyk had no business bumping up there, particularly with Nathan MacKinnon out there. That's not a system issue. That's just ... bad.

I can't anymore with this guy. I just can't.

• Sidney Crosby vs. his best bud MacKinnon didn't exactly bubble over: Sid had no points, two shots, five attempted shots and, at the least, a superb 27-10 showing on faceoffs, while MacKinnon had a goal, four assists, a plus-4 rating and all of the wow factors available. Imagine them on a line together in a couple months.

• It was terrific to see Phil Tomasino back and, almost instantly, creating offense again. No trace of his upper-body injury. Can't afford to have him cooling off.

• It was equally terrific to see Cody Glass rewarded with another all-around solid effort with his first goal in this sweater, thanks to an exceptional look from Evgeni Malkin:

"It was a good feeling," Glass would say of scoring. "At one point, I didn't think I was ever gonna score again. But that's what happens when you play with Geno. He'll find you anywhere."

Dude's got some offense to him. He's no plugger. Mike Sullivan slid him up to the second line with Geno and Tomasino, bumping Drew O'Connor down, and he made it stand up.

• Several players on the roster are more talented than Michael Bunting, but only Bunting plants himself in places to score goals like these:

There's no reason, between what's above, all his other offense of late and his innate ability to fill the bumper role on the power play, that he shouldn't be on the No. 1 unit. As in, now.

• Scratching Jesse Puljujarvi and suiting up Noel Acciari -- yet again the Penguins' least productive player in terms of general team possession -- blows my mind, no matter how often similar moves get made. One player's been immensely visible, at least when he's permitted to participate, and the other brings borderline nothing.