The Columbus Blue Jackets came to Pittsburgh hoping to salvage a split in their set of Metropolitan Division games over the last two nights. After a back and forth game, the Blue Jackets found a way to prevail.
It took a shootout to decide this one. All three Blue Jackets shooters beat goaltender Arturs Silovs to lift them to a 5-4 win over the Penguins.
The story of this game was the Blue Jackets finding a way to salvage a win in a tough situation.
Game Recap
It took the Penguins just 59 seconds into the game to open the scoring. Ryan Shea got a pass from Anthony Mantha and had a lot of room to close in on Elvis Merzlikins. Shea made no mistake to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Then looking for a spark, captain Boone Jenner stepped up. After taking a hit from Matt Dumba in the offensive zone, Jenner went and challenged Dumba to a fight. The fight marked Jenner’s first since March 2023 when he dropped gloves with Brandon Carlo.
It only took the Blue Jackets a few minutes to tie the game after that. Although it went through a review before it was confirmed.
Charlie Coyle scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket. Dante Fabbro got the puck on net. Coyle crashing the net put the rebound in. The Penguins tried to challenge for goalie interference. The goal stood which gave the Blue Jackets a power play.
But after a listless power play, Mantha then scored off an Evgeni Malkin pass to make it 2-1 Penguins. This goal came 17 seconds after they killed the delay of game penalty.
The Blue Jackets were down 2-1 after the first but held a 16-7 shot advantage. They scored the only goal of the second when Dmitri Voronkov beat Silovs off a Kent Johnson feed.
The Blue Jackets opened the third with two goals in the first five minutes to open a 4-2 lead. Yegor Chinakhov scored his first goal of the season while Voronkov added his second of the game from in front of the net.
Then in the span of less than three minutes, the Blue Jackets took two penalties. The second came back to bite them.
Kris Letang’s power-play goal cut it to 4-3. Exactly two minutes later, Bryan Rust scored his first of the season. It was 4-4 after regulation.
Overtime solved nothing despite the Blue Jackets having the better of the chances. Then Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko all scored in the shootout. Despite Rust and Sidney Crosby scoring, Evgeni Malkin’s attempt missed the net to finish the game.
Postgame, Penguins coach Dan Muse said Rickard Rakell was still being evaluated for an upper-body injury. He left the game in the third period after blocking a shot.
The Blue Jackets will get Sunday off before returning to practice Monday in advance of Tuesday night’s game in Buffalo. The Penguins meanwhile will next play Monday night at home when the St. Louis Blues come to town.
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