As the Penguins gradually start to assemble all of their key pieces to what will hopefully be a Stanley Cup Championship puzzle, Sidney Crosby and James Neal continue to lead the way.
James Neal tallied a hat trick and five points while Sidney Crosby add a goal and two assists of his own to route the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3, Sunday night.
The Penguins were deadlocked in a 2-2 tie going into the third period before exploding with three goals in the final frame.
The Jackets didn’t go down without a fight as Brandon Dubinsky scored to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Dubinsky took a loose puck along the far boards, skated in on backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, and sent a backhand shot into the net.
James Neal answered with a power play goal less than a minute later. Chris Kunitz found Matt Niskanen with a cross ice pass who then fed Neal in the middle of the slot. Neal fired a wicked wrist shot that beat the goaltender Curtis McElhinney.
Neal scored again mid way through the second period to give the Penguins the lead. Sidney Crosby knocked down a clearing attempt along the boards then sent a pass to Neal who was wide open in the left wing circle for an easy snap shot.
Corey Tropp tied the game with a highlight goal five minutes later. Tropp took a pass from Boone Jenner, slithered past Olli Maatta with a curl and drag move, then faked out Zatkoff.
But in the third period, it was the Sidney Crosby show.
Crosby took an outlet pass from Neal, chipped the puck past Fedor Tyutin, then received a return pass from Chris Kunitz and slammed the puck into the net.
Just 2:07 later Crosby fed a cross-ice pass to Chris Kunitz with a one-timer power play goal.
James Neal scored his third goal of the night on a backhand shot with a net-mouth scramble in front to get the hat trick.
Nikita Nikitin scored with 1:29 to go in the game, but the Blue Jackets couldn’t get any closer with the goaltender pulled and a brief power play.
- James Neal has ten points in his last five games since returning from injury.
- Rob Scuderi returned from a broken ankle and notched a -2 rating in 18:11 time of play.
- Sidney Crosby has 18 multi-point games.
Three Stars
- James Neal
- Sidney Crosby
- Corey Tropp
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
