Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 2016-2017 Season Series Roundup
The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Pittsburgh Penguins will meet for at least four more games this season. The two teams are scheduled to meet in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, starting with Wednesday’s game.
During the regular season, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins split their four-game season series. The teams battled each other on the ice and in the standings all year so it’s only fitting that they will face each other to start the playoffs.
The Penguins will begin at home due to edging out Columbus by three points. If you’re unfamiliar, the first two games will take place in Pittsburgh. Then the teams will come back to Columbus for the next two games. If the Jackets haven’t swept the Pens by then, they’ll go back to Pittsburgh for game five. They’ll be in Columbus for game six and back in the ‘Burgh for game seven.
The series begins on Wednesday so today, we’re going to recap the four meetings between the teams this year. There were ups and downs for both sides but that’s what makes it fun, right?
Oh, this one… This game might be even more satisfying than the 10-0 win over the Canadiens. What a way to open the season series. The 19,115 specators that filed into Nationwide Arena on Dec. 22 had no idea what they were about to witness.
Sidney Crosby opened up the game with a pretty goal just 2:39 into the game. Over ten minutes later, Cam Atkinson responded on behalf of the Blue Jackets on the power play. The rest of the period was relatively quiet with no goals.
The second period was a bit more positive with the Columbus Blue Jackets. They opened up the scoring again in the period with a confusing goal. William Karlsson looked to have scored judging from the reaction of his teammates and fans but there was no signal for a goal. The horn did not sound until the puck was across rink and the players had continued to skate around. After review, it was confirmed that Karlsson did score by hitting the inner top part of the net. The next goal was not confusing whatsoever. Old man Scott Hartnell chased the puck down the left side of the ice, beat the Penguins defensemen and deked Matt Murray out of his jockstrap for a goal.
Entering the third period, the Jackets had a solid but not too comfortable 3-1 lead. With playmakers such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the other side of the ice, the Penguins can usually not be counted out. Scott Hartnell was not going to let them come back though. Less than three minutes into the final period, Hartnell buried another goal. Immediately afterwards, Brandon Saad scored a goal off the assist from Alexander Wennberg. Just over 30 seconds later, Boone Jenner got in on the action by wristing one in the top left of the net. Matt Murray was replaced following the sixth goal. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh’s replacement goaltender, faced just five shots while he was in. Unfortunately for him, Scott Hartnell wanted a hat trick. Hartnell buried his third goal of the game to stretch the CBJ lead to 7-1.
This game? Not as good. The Penguins evened the series with an overtime victory over the Jackets in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins again jumped out to a lead. Behind the sticks of Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist, the tuxedo birds got out to a 2-0 lead. They entered the second period with the score but Brandon Dubinsky broke it up with under five minutes to play. Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino responded three minutes later to push the lead to 3-1. Early in the third period, Alexander Wennberg put the Jackets within one goal again. 11 minutes later, Cam Atkinson scored his 25th goal of the year to tie the game up. The Jackets would go on to lose in overtime after Kessel scored his second goal of the night.
Two weeks later, the two teams met again. Back in Columbus, the Jackets got on the board in the second period with a Ryan Murray backhanded goal. CBJ’s Murray was able to swoop in toward the net off a rebound a throw one past Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray. The first period was action-packed but the superb goaltending between Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Murray was enough to keep it scoreless.
The Penguins responded five minutes later. On a rather soft Ian Cole shot toward the net, Bob let it slide by. His view was obstructed by the various players in front of him, allowing the puck to roll in the lower right part of the net.
Now here comes the controversy. A little over a minute after Pittsburgh’s goal, Oliver Bjorkstrand raced down the left side of the ice to chase the puck. After regaining possession, Bjork held it as he maneuvered to the front of the net. After some rapid stick smashing at the ice, Bjork delivered a mighty fine goal for the Blue Jackets. Well, maybe not…
Apparently, the refs saw the Pens gain possession of the puck in the aforementioned stick smashing and the delayed penalty that the officials had been waiting to call stopped play before Bjork’s goal. Thing is, the Pens never had possession. Let’s roll the tape.
As you can see, Pittsburgh never gained control of the puck. The refs screwed Bjorkstrand and the Jackets by calling off the goal. The score remained tied even though Columbus obviously should’ve went up by one. The third period was a period with both teams keeping very aggressive. Much like the previous meeting, the two goalies stood on their heads to maintain the tie.
In overtime, the Jackets pulled out a victory. A nicely served assist from Cam Atkinson set Brandon Dubinsky up with a pretty fine goal that zipped past Matt Murray’s shoulder. The win put the Jackets up in the season series.
I’m not going to spend much time on this one. I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. The Penguins were very good in this one and the Blue Jackets were not.
The Pens opened the scoring column up with just over a minute to go in the first period. The goal came after a bad Jack Johnson turnover in the CBJ zone. Scott Wilson got the puck and dished it to Carter Rowney, who sat in front of the net. The puck bounced off Rowney’s stick and into the top right part of the net.
The next goal came after a blocked Kyle Quincey shot. The ricocheted puck was chased down Tom Kuhnhackl, who skated up the left edge of the ice. He threw it to the racing Patric Hornqvist on the other side of the net, who wristed the shot past Bob for the 2-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Brian Dumoulin skated around the net with the puck and attempted to dish it to the front of the net. It bounced off of the Cam Atkinson’s nearby skate and slid into the corner of the goal. It was very unlucky and depressing. It may be even more depressing when you take into account that Pittsburgh probably was offsides before the goal.
The Pens’ fourth goal came in the third period after an aerial pass hit Jake Guentzel and went into the net. Again, unlucky and depressing.
Brandon Dubinsky scored the lone CBJ goal in the game shorthanded following a whiffed Pittsburgh pass. Dubinsky took the puck and skated up the ice patiently, finally deciding to pull the trigger to score one past Matt Murray.
That’s the season series! Both teams came away with two wins. The Jackets won the goal differential but the momentum is in the Pittsburgh’s favor. Here’s hoping to the Penguins screwing that up and we win the playoffs series.