Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky tried his hardest to steal a big game for the Blue Jackets but, in the end, he came up a little short.
The Penguins would make sure of it.
Chris Kunitz and Jussi Jokinen scored, and Kris Letang added an empty net goal as the Penguins defeated the Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night.
Despite the close score, the Penguins pretty much dominated from the second period on, outshooting Columbus 51-24.
Dan Bylsma elected to use his superstars on the same line for most of the game and while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin failed to tally a goal, the Penguins found a great line combination in Jokinen-Sutter-Neal.
Boone Jenner scored 12:55 into the opening period, with five seconds remaining on the power play, to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. The puck was loose in front of the net and Fleury couldn’t cover it with his glove. As the players piled up along the left post, the puck squirted to the right post where Jenner pounced on the loose rebound for his third goal of the playoffs.
It was a sluggish start for the home team in the second period. The Penguins looked slow and the crowd was taken out of the game. But the Penguins gained a power play and eventually the game-tying goal.
James Wisniewski went to the box for cross checking. After some excellent puck movement, Sidney Crosby’s shot-pass to the front of the net was deflected by Chris Kunitz. Bobrovsky lost sight of the puck, allowing Kunitz to get a second crack and a goal 7:42 into the second period.
In the third, Jussi Jokinen scored his third of the playoffs to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead with under fourteen minutes remaining in the game. Lee Stempniak made a nice move around a defenseman at the blue line before finding Brandon Sutter in front of the net. Sutter’s shot was stopped by Bobrovsky, but the rebound came loose and Jokinen found himself at the goal line with the puck and a wide open net.
With the goaltender pulled, the Blue jackets desperately tried to tie the game in the last two minutes. Craig Adams dove for a loose puck in the Columbus end and chipped it to Kris Letang who slammed the puck into the open cage to seal the win.
Pittsburgh will have a chance to close out the series on Monday in Columbus.
Three Stars
- Chris Kunitz
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Sergei Bobrovsky
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
