The first 20 minutes of tonight’s game went fairly well. The second 20 minutes did not, and that was the difference.
Columbus’ two-game winning burst came to a halt on Monday night at CONSOL Energy Center after a furious second period push propelled the Penguins to a commanding three-goal lead after 40 minutes of play.
It was a 5-2 victory for the Penguins, who snapped a five-game losing skid and picked up their first win under new coach Mike Sullivan, who took over for Mike Johnston just a little more than a week ago.
When the puck dropped on through the end of the first period, it felt like a game the Blue Jackets had a good grip on. They got the opening goal, a nice play that began at the left point with Fedor Tyutin finding a seam and getting a puck to the net through traffic. The shot caromed off the end boards, and rather than play the puck, Scott Hartnell let the puck go through the crease, where Alexander Wennberg was unmarked.
The slam-dunk goal for Wennberg – his 10th point in the last nine games – gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 5:41 gone by in the first period.
For the most part, it was a steady, sound period of hockey on the road against an opponent desperate for a win. But in the second period, that desperation showed up in spades, and the Blue Jackets failed to capitalize on a 1:25 5-on-3 – and the game took on a different tenor from there.
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