Pittsburgh Penguins Defeat The Columbus Blue Jackets
By Tyler West
First Period:
The first period started off strong. Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was on his game early, making some key stops. About 8 or 9 minutes in, the Penguins got their first power play due to a David Savard hooking.
The Pens scored 6 seconds into the power play as Chris Kunitz redirected a shot from the point. Sergei Bobrovsky overplayed the initial shot leaving a wide open net for Kunitz.
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Columbus Blue Jackets got a chance to even the score when Kris Letang went to the sin bin for cross checking. Although the Jackets took some shots, they couldn’t find the back of the net.
End of the first period: CBJ 0, Pitt 1
Second Period:
The Blue Jackets have had trouble this year in the early minutes of second periods. Tonight was no different. Brandon Sutter got the puck behind a flat footed Jack Johnson, leading to an odd-man rush. He elected to fire a shot rather than pass, resulting in a 5-hole goal.
Not minutes after, James Wisnieski got called for delay of game for closing his hands on a puck. Kris Letang made him pay when he scored on another easy shot. Bobrovsky appeared to have made the initial save before it trickled into the net.
That was it for Sergei as back-up Curtis McElhinney took over. He fell victim shortly after on a Jayson Megna goal. Megna was open in the crease and pounced on a rebound.
The Jackets had a chance to put some respectability back in the contest when the Penguins went a man down. Arguably the two best chances of the night came right in a row from the sticks of Brandon Dubinsky and James Wisniewski, respectably. Fleury didn’t let a 4 goal lead affect his game as he proceeded to make both saves, point blank.
. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Fortunately enough, Columbus finally got on the board late in the period when a back hand pass found a streaking Derek MacKenzie. The play started with Jack Johnson pinching at the top of the zone, forcing a turnover. He eventually found the puck on his stick before giving it up to Nick Foligno. Nick turned and made a nifty back door pass to Derek, who beat Fleury.
End of the second period: CBJ 1, Pitt 4
Third Period: The Jackets didn’t start off the third period too hot either, as Brandon Dubinsky got called for holding on Sidney Crosby. During the Pittsburgh power play, Crosby found an open Evgeni Malkin in the slot, who fired up shelf on McElhinney. The call on the ice was a goal but after further review, the score remained the same. Replay showed the puck hit the bottom of the cross bar before shooting straight down and hitting the right post, never crossing the goal line.
After the Jackets were fortunate enough to kill off another Penguin power play (Jack Johnson for high sticking), play kind of dulled out. Pittsburgh took the foot off the gas and the both teams sailed to the finish. Columbus did however tally another goal before nights end. R.J. Umberger found an open-in-the-slot Ryan Johansen who wristed the puck just under the cross bar.
End of the game: CBJ 2, Pitt 4