The Blue Jackets played a solid and manageable game through two periods at Nationwde Arena, but they did exactly what they did not want to do in the third period. They gave the Penguins their fair share of power play opportunities and it played a big role in turning the game around.
This was a 2-2 tie through 40 minutes and a pretty entertaining hockey game between two Metropolitan Division clubs, one of which (Columbus) anxiously looking forward to getting on the board in the season series with Pittsburgh. They gave themselves a chance and seemed to be in control when the game was 5-on-5, but the penalty trouble caught up with them in a hurry.
Pittsburgh, top-three in the NHL on the power play, scored three times in the third period (two power play goals) and scored three times on the man advantage to pull away in a 5-3 win.
The Penguins have won four of the first five meetings of the season against Columbus and continue to add to their Metropolitan Division lead despite being ravaged by injuries.
And though this game eluded the Blue Jackets in the final 20 minutes, they (again) got the start they wanted.
Brandon Dubinsky cut to the inside on the Penguins’ defense pair of Rob Scuderi and Robert Bortuzzo early in the first period, then whipped a backhander through the pads of Jeff Zatkoff for a 1-0 lead at 3:59. The lead, however, lasted less than a minute after the Penguins and Neal notched their first power play goal of the night at 4:55, with Corey Tropp in the box for tripping.
Speaking of Tropp, he provided the Jackets’ biggest highlight of the night late in the second period.
Down 2-1, he took a sling pass from Boone Jenner just inside the blue line and dangled through Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta before sliding his second goal of the season under Zatkoff at 13:42 – sending the arena into a frenzy.
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