PITTSBURGH — Phil Kessel drank in the moment in the most Phil Kessel way. He tried to avoid it.

Yet as the standing ovation the Arizona Coyotes forward received in his return to Pittsburgh wore on Friday night, the mercurial forward who helped the Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups couldn’t escape it even as he tried to hide on the bench. So Kessel finally caved, skating onto the ice and bashfully raising his stick as a show of respect to the sellout crowd.

“You know me, I’m not the biggest for that,” Kessel said. “But like I said, it was nice of them to do that. I appreciate it.”

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry wasn’t so hospitable, turning aside all 33 shots he faced — including three from Kessel — to lift Pittsburgh to a 2-0 victory. Jarry’s second straight shutout and fifth victory in his last six starts did little to dampen a potentially messy goalie controversy, though coach Mike Sullivan demurred when asked if Jarry is making a compelling case to supplant struggling veteran Matt Murray as Pittsburgh’s No. 1 starter.

“We’re trying to make decisions to win games in the short run and try and have the big picture in mind,” Sullivan said. “Tristan’s this last handful of starts, he’s been great.”

Jarry needed to be to hand the Coyotes just their fourth regulation road loss of the season. His best stop came late in the third period with the Penguins on the penalty kill nursing a one-goal lead. Arizona’s Clayton Keller was in perfect position at the right post to pounce on a rebound and had an open net to shoot at before Jarry got just enough of it to send the puck sailing over the crossbar.