PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins (6-2-1) scored early and late in the first period, but increasingly sloppy play and flat-footed defending spotted the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-4-0) a pair of early third period goals, and a tie game quickly became a commanding 4-2 lead.
However, the Penguins saved their best for late in the third period. A pair of quick goals forced the need for overtime and then the shootout.
However, Columbus scored on all three shootout attempts, compared to the Penguins’ two, and the Penguins’ four-game winning streak was snapped 5-4 at PPG Paints Arena Saturday.
The Penguins’ oh-so-close offensive game continued in the extra period as Kris Letang’s shot from the slot got past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins, but defenseman Ivan Provorov swatted the puck off the goal line. It was the fourth time in the game that the Penguins got a puck past Merzlikins … but not all the way across the goal line.
With time ticking away in regulation and the Penguins stagnating, Columbus gave the Penguins’ top-ranked power play a pair of opportunities. On the second chance, Letang (1) blasted a power-play goal from the point at 14:54 of the third to raise the temperature in the building and bring the Penguins to within 4-3.
Exactly two minutes later, Evgeni Malkin slipped a pass across the slot to Bryan Rust (1), the goal line for the winger’s quick one-timer into a yawning cage and a tie game at 16:54.
Off the ice, it was a night for the Penguins’ all-time greats. The organization restarted the Penguins Hall of Fame by inducting Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis, Eddie Johnston, and Scotty Bowman.
On the ice, the Penguins’ batch of fresh start players were the ones who lit the lamp first. Perhaps it is a quirk of the building, but for the second time this young season, a team scored the first goal on its first shot. However, this time, it was the Penguins who put a mark on the scoreboard.
Anthony Mantha froze everyone as he slowed the play from the right wall. Columbus fixated on Mantha, but that opened a cross-ice passing lane to defenseman Ryan Shea (2), who kept his stride toward the net and whistled a top-shelf wrister past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins at :59 for a 1-0 lead.
Mantha got a little gift of his own later in the first period. His long wrist shot through a defender’s screen from the top of the left circle also eluded Merzlikins for a 2-1 Penguins lead at 18:01.
Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs was mostly fantastic in the first period. Columbus outshot the Penguins 16-7 as the Penguins were too cute by half for much of the period, leaving their goalie to fend off several odd-man rushes and high-danger chances.
However, Silovs’s Achilles Heel is a long shot, and one burned him Saturday. Silovs dropped a long shot by Dante Fabro, and Columbus center Charlie Coyle (1) was standing in the crease for a tap-in so easy that it seemed to surprise even him at 15:44 of the first period.
The first period also had a little juice as Penguins defenseman Matt Dumba, who drew into the lineup in place of the injured Caleb Jones, first flattened Boone Jenner in the slot, then had to fight the Columbus captain.
The Penguins’ second period was quite forgettable. The teams traded shots, but not many, as Columbus squandered far too many Penguins mistakes, amassing just nine shots in probably more than nine dangerous situations.
Columbus tied the game 2-2 in the period when another Penguins mistake fueled the Columbus transition. Malkin and Erik Karlsson were back to the defensive zone in plenty of time, but neither engaged in the play as defenseman Parker Wotherspoon was caught by a pair of forecheckers.
Karlsson swatted the puck away, right to Voronkov in the slot. Vronkov (4) accepted the generously awarded gift by quickly slicing a wrister past Silovs at 17:39 of the second period.
Early in the third, Columbus took advantage of the Penguins’ listless play with a pair of quick goals.
Yegor Chinakov (1), who has been the subject of recent trade rumors after he requested a deal last summer, found a soft spot in the Penguins’ defensive zone coverage and snapped a wrist shot past Silovs at 1:55 of the third.
Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton’s turnover at the offensive blue launched the Columbus counterattack, which the Penguins did not track well. From the crease, Voronkov (5) redirected Sean Monahan’s pass for the potential dagger in the Penguins’ heart at 4:54 of the third.
Coach Dan Muse called a timeout, but the Penguins still couldn’t find their momentum until the final minutes.
Silovs stopped 33 of 37 shots in regulation. Merzlikins wasn’t necessarily sharp. He faced just 15 shots in the first two periods and 27 overall.
Winger Rickard Rakell left the game early in the third period due to injury and did not return.
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Categorized: Penguins Postgame